REEDLEY – Four teams in the Mineral King Publishing region have drawn top two seeds for the upcoming Central Section volleyball playoffs including top seed Orange Cove High and No. 2 seed Farmersville High in Division VI. Also, the No. 2 seeds Exeter High (Division II) and Sanger High (Division III) potentially have three home matches.
First round matches begin Tuesday, Oct. 24 at 6 p.m. Quarterfinal and semifinal rounds are Thursday, Oct. 26 and Tuesday, Oct. 31, with championship matches on Thursday, Nov. 2 with higher seeds serving as hosts.
In addition to the Tri-County Conference Kings Canyon Division champion Monarchs (28-10), TCC Sequoia Divisioni-winning Immanuel High (24-12) opens with a home match after earning a No 3 seed in Division IV. Both schools posted perfect 8-0 records in their respective divisions
Exeter opens against No. 15 seed Tulare Western (25-13), a Division III base seed moved up a division after winning the West Yosemite League championship. Immanuel, meanwhile, will host No. 14 seed Dinuba High (11-17) in a 6 p.m. start. The Emperors remained in their base division.
Also in Division III, an all-Sanger matchup takes place in the opening round as No. 2 Sanger (14-17) hosts No 15 Sanger West (27-7) in the first-ever volleyball meeting between the city schools. The Apaches were dropped from their Division II base after finishing in a three-way tie for third in the County Metro Athletic Conference, while the Hornets moved up from a Division IV base after a strong 12-2 second place finish in the North Yosemite League.
Here’s a look at each regional team matchup, by division.
Division I – Central Valley Christian (26-8), which finished second to Exeter in the TCC Kings Canyon after reaching the section Division II finals and Division IV NorCal finals last season, was moved up to Division I and given the No. 5 seed where they will travel to No. 4 Clovis West (29-10) in the first round.. The Cavaliers defeated the Golden Eagles in five sets in an Aug. 22 non-conference matchup.
East Yosemite League champion Redwood (31-5) was moved up to Division I after placing second in the section Division II bracket last season. The seventh-seeded Rangers will play at No. 2 San Luis Obispo on Oct. 24. Reigning Division II champion Buchanan (31-9) is the top seed for Division I this year..
Division II – Monache (18-10), which placed second to Redwood in the EYL, is seeded No. 8 and will host No. 9 Yosemite (30-13) on Oct. 24. The winner would likely travel to play top-seeded Stockdale (23-10) on Thursday, Oct. 26.
Division III – Porterville High (23-9), which finished third in the EYL, earned the No. 3 seed and will entertain No. 14 Atascadsero (23-12) in the first round. No. 10 seed Mission Oak (17-14, second in the WYL) will travel to play No. 7 Independence-Bakersfield (24-10-1) and with a win would take on the Sanger-Sanger West winner..
Reedley High (17-18) was seeded No. 13 in the division and heads up the foothills to take on No. 4 Minarets (26-8-1). The Pirates are on the same side of the bracket as top seed Kingsburg (17-13), which opens the postseason against No. 8 Lemoore (15-14).
Division IV – The Immanuel-Dinuba winner will take on the winner of No. 6 Caruthers (23-7) and No. 11 Golden West (12-17), The top two seeds in the Division are Mammoth (25-9) and Fresno Christian (33-10).
Division VI – Orange Cove (18-12-1) and Farmersville (21-9-1) are the top two in the division after finishing one-two in the East Sequoia League Redwood Division. The Titans will host No. 16 seed Wonderful College Prep Academy of Lost Hllls (14-6). The Aztecs, meanwhile, host No. 15 seed Mojave (9-14-1)
East Sequoia League Sequoia Division co-champions Strathmore and Woodlake are seeded fifth and sixth, respectively. The Spartans (13-12) host Roosevelt (12-17) while the Tigers (14-15) are home to Immanuel Christian (15-9-1). Also in the bracket is Orosi (12-11-1), seeded ninth and playing on Oct. 24 at No. 8 Corcoran (12-13-1) with the winner likely playing at Orange Cove.
GIRLS TENNIS
Brackets set, section team tourney begins this week
The Central Section girls section team playoff brackets are set, and two Mineral King Publishing area teams have drawn top seeds for matches that begin on Tuesday, Oct. 24.
The Strathmore Spartans (Division IV) and Golden West Trailblazers (Division V) both have four potential home matches after hosting No. 16 seeds in the first round. Strathmore takes on Lemoore while Golden West plays McFarland. Orosi is No. 2 in Division IV and hosts Independence.
In the Division I bracket, CMAC champion Sanger High drew the No.8 seed and hosts No. 9 Clovis East at 3 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 24. If they win, the Apaches take on top-seeded San Luis Obispo on the road on Thursday, Oct. 26.
East Yosemite League champion Redwood and Central Valley Christian are the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds, respectively, in Division II. The Rangers host No. 15 seed Justin Garza with a potential home quarterfinal against a Bakersfield school awaiting on Thursday, Oct. 26. The Cavaliers host No. 14 St. Joseph of Santa Maria, and No. 6 El Diamante would play the winner if the Miners can get past No. 11 seed Frontier-Bakersfield.
In Division III, No. 14 seed Reedley High travels to Dinuba to take on the No. 3 Emperors at 3 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 24, while lower seeds Woodlake, Mt. Whtney and Porterville all travel for first round D-III matchups.
Quarterfinal and semifinal rounds are on Oct. 26 and Tuesday, Oct. 31. Championship finals are set for Tuesday, Nov. 7 at sites hosted by the higher seeds.
