Area prep spikers ready for district play
Win or go home.
That’s the situation facing area prep volleyball teams as they start district tournament play this weekend.
The two surviving teams from the Class 2A, 3A and 4A districts who reach the championship match, out of pool play and the ensuing semifinals, advance to the regional playoffs.
The rest wish each other well then pack their uniforms away until next year.
Glenwood Springs and Rifle open tournament action with pool play games on Friday at the 4A District 7 tournament in Craig.
The Demons were given the No. 3 seed in the eight-team tournament.
They are in Pool B along with No. 2 Montezuma-Cortez, No. 6 Battle Mountain and No. 7 Moffat County.
Cortez, which plays in the Southwestern League during the regular season, was given the higher seed over the Demons by tournament committee rules.
Rifle, which earned its way into the tournament on Tuesday’s pigtail win over Delta, is the No. 8 seed. The remainder of the pool consist of No. 1 Steamboat Springs, No. 4 Palisade and No. 5 Montrose.
Pool play begins with Friday’s Glenwood-Battle Mountain match at 4 p.m., and concludes Saturday morning.
The two teams with the best records advance to the semifinals where the Pool A winner plays the runner-up from Pool B. The other match pits the Pool B winner against the Pool A runner-up.
Semifinal winners play for the district championship at 5 p.m.
Teams in Saturday’s Class 3A Districts at Grand Junction Central High School and the 2A tournament at Paonia follow the same pattern.
Roaring Fork and Basalt, the area’s 3A schools, are in the same pool.
The Rams are the No. 5 seed. Basalt was seeded eighth.
Basalt opens pool play against No. 1 Eagle Valley at 9 a.m. on Court A. At the conclusion of that match Roaring Fork battles No. 5 Hotchkiss.
After taking a match off, one of the teams will be on the court for the remaining three pool play games.
Grand Valley is the No. 5 seed in the eight-team District 5, Class 2A tournament scheduled for Saturday at Hotchkiss and Paonia High Schools.
The Cardinals will play their pool-play matches at Paonia.
They draw No. 4 Rangely for their first opponent at 9:15 a.m. Grand Valley stays on the court for a match against No. 1 seed North Park at 10:15 a.m., then finishes up with No. 8 Soroco.
Semifinal games are scheduled to start at 4 p.m. The Championship game will tipoff at 6:30 p.m.
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