TACOMA — Two area volleyball teams and a girls soccer squad will be battling for state berths this weekend.
Port Angeles will be trying to punch tickets to state in volleyball and soccer while Sequim is looking for a volleyball berth.
The Roughriders (14-2) are going into the Class 2A West Central District volleyball tournament needing a win in its first match to earn a state berth.
Lose that first match, though, and the Riders will need to win three in a row for a state berth.
Port Angeles, the Olympic League’s No. 2 team, has a bye in the first round and will take on the winner between Franklin Pierce and Olympic in the second round (championship quarterfinals) today at Washington High School starting at 7 p.m.
Quarterfinal winners earn district top-four berths for state.
They all advance to the semifinals where the semifinal winners play for first and second state seeds and semifinal losers play for third and fourth seeds.
Also in the same side of the bracket with the Riders are Interlake, Sumner and Washington.
“It’s super-critical that we win that first match,” Port Angeles coach Christine Halberg said.
“I assume we will play Olympic [in the quarterfinals] but I haven’t seen Franklin Pierce play.”
The Riders have played the Trojans once this year, winning 3-1.
Port Angeles won the first two games by close scores, lost the third game by another close score but easily claimed the fourth and deciding game.
“Olympic is very scrappy with a couple of good hitters,” Halberg said. “They had a great match against us but we were not at the top of our game.
“If we come out and pass well and play defense well we will be OK.”
The key is not to make unforced errors, she added. Not to help the Trojans out with serving, passing or hitting mistakes.
“Going for everything, playing consistent and playing as a team” will put the Riders over the top, Halberg said.
Port Angeles is going into districts healthy with just a few sore ankles that needed to be taped this week.
Sequim No. 9 seed
The Wolves (12-4), meanwhile, have the much tougher road to state.
They open districts in the first round against Foster at 5 p.m. today in the Franklin Pierce gym.
The winner gets the booby prize of facing powerhouse and Olympic League champion North Kitsap (14-1) at 7 p.m. in the quarterfinals at Franklin Pierce.
The quarterfinal loser will need to win three consolation matches for a state berth, the same amount of loser-out matches first-round losers face.
Eight teams battle for one state berth in the consolation bracket.
There’s a slight chance that the Riders could face their Sequim rivals. For that to happen, the Riders will have to lose in the quarterfinals to either Olympic or Franklin Pierce and the Wolves would have to fall to Foster in the first round.
District soccer
The Riders (8-5-4) have a shot at making the state playoffs in girls soccer for the first time since 1986.
But to do that the No. 3 Olympic League 2A team would have to get by Fife (12-2-0), the No. 2 squad from South Puget Sound League.
The two teams tangle at Renton Memorial Stadium on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Port Angeles coach Scott Moseley said he is feeling confident going in and believes the Riders have a good shot at a win.
“We’re pretty confident and the girls are excited about the opportunity to play for a state berth,” he said.
“It’s time to break the drought.”
Moseley noted that four years ago the Riders were excited about just getting a win.
Port Angeles had only one victory in three years.
A win against Fife on Saturday would make it a complete turnaround for a program that’s no longer struggling.
Port Angeles and Fife have similar results against common opponents.
The Riders beat Steilacoom 2-1 in the first round of the playoffs Wednesday while Fife also beat Steilacoom 2-1.
Fife defeated Lindbergh 2-1 while the Riders shaded Lindbergh 3-2.
The Trojans beat Sequim 7-1 while the Riders shut out the Wolves twice, 5-0 and 2-0.
“We dominated both of those games,” Moseley said.
Sequim players have told their Port Angeles counterparts that the Riders are stronger than the Trojans and they should match up well with Fife.
