The regular season for volleyball and girls soccer ends this week.
Teams in the 4A, 3A and 2A Greater St. Helens Leagues, as well as 1A Trico League, will be playing for playoff sports.
So let’s look at how the playoff races are shaping up this week.
4A GSHL
VOLLEYBALL: Remember, there is no bi-district tournament for 4A GSHL teams this year. So a six-team district tournament will determine two berths straight to state.
That means the five-week league season eliminates only one team. In volleyball, that’s Evergreen.
Camas and Battle Ground have clinched first-round byes at district.
If those two teams are tied atop of the league standings at the end of the week, the Papermakers and Tigers will meet Saturday for seeding.
That leaves Heritage (7-4), Union (5-5), Skyview (3-7) and Mountain View (2-8) to sort out the matchups for the first-round, loser-out matches at district.
SOCCER: Soccer has a similar six-team playoff. But with soccer, there is no double elimination element of the tournament.
Camas has clinched the league title and No. 1 seed to district.
Skyview and Union (both 7-2-1) are battling for the coveted No. 2 seed and the first-round bye that goes with it.
Union hosts Camas on Tuesday in a big match for the Titans.
On the other end of the standings, last-place Evergreen must beat Union on Thursday to keep its playoff hopes alive.
3A GSHL
VOLLEYBALL: Because there is a bi-district playoff and there are only four teams in the league, there is no district playoff for the 3A GSHL.
The top three teams will advance to the bi-district tournament, which looks to be Columbia River, Prairie and Kelso. River appears set to secure the No. 1 seed. Prairie will be in line to get the No. 2 seed with a win over Kelso on Tuesday. If Kelso wins, those two teams may play a tiebreaker match for seeding.
SOCCER: Again, no district playoff, but only two soccer teams will advance to the bi-district.
Columbia River appears to have the No. 1 seed secured. Prairie plays at Kelso on Tuesday. Again, if the Falcons win, they clinch the No. 2 seed. If not, a tiebreaker game may be coming. A tie also benefits Prairie.
2A GSHL
VOLLEYBALL: The top four teams advance to the district tournament. Ridgefield has clinched the league title, while R.A. Long and Woodland have clinched district berths. Hockinson (4-6) faces some long odds in catching Mark Morris (5-5) for the last berth.
SOCCER: Ridgefield, Hockinson, Washougal and Mark Morris have secured the fourth berths to district. Ridgefield plays at Hockinson on Tuesday to determine the Nos. 1 and 2 seeds. Likewise, Washougal plays at Mark Morris for Nos. 3 and 4 seeds.
1A Trico
VOLLEYBALL: The top four teams head to district. Kalama (9-1) and King’s Way Christian (9-1) have secured two of those berths. La Center (6-4), Castle Rock (5-5) and Seton Catholic (4-6) are battling for the other two spots. But Seton has a tough road with matches against Kalama and King’s Way this week.
SOCCER: The top three teams head to district. La Center (10-0) and King’s Way Christian (8-2) have two of those berths. La Center can lock up the league title with a win or tie against Castle Rock on Tuesday. Castle Rock (5-4-2) sits in third place for now, but a loss to La Center could put the Rockets in a tenuous spot. If the Rockets lose on Tuesday, White Salmon (5-6) could claim the No. 3 berth with a win over Kalama on Thursday. Seton Catholic (4-6) also is in the mix.
