Boys volleyball playoff picture still developing
Most of Southern Nevada’s Class 4A boys volleyball teams already know whether or not they’ll make the playoffs.
With two rounds of league play remaining, 14 of the 16 playoff spots have already been secured.
But there’s still a lot of jockeying for position in the final week of the season.
All four playoff spots in the Northwest, Southwest and Southeast Leagues have been sewn up, barring forfeits, of course.
The Northeast League, though, still has some shaking down to do.
Both region tournaments begin May 12, with the finalists in each region tournament advancing to the state tournament May 19-20 at Sierra Vista.
Here’s a closer look at each league through Monday’s matches. Playoff pairings will be posted on nevadapreps.com as soon as they’re made official by the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association.
Northwest League
Who’s in: Shadow Ridge (12-0, league champion), Centennial (10-2), Palo Verde (9-3), Cimarron-Memorial (7-5)
Side out: Arbor View (5-7), Cheyenne (3-9), Legacy (2-10), Mojave (0-12)
Breakdown: Shadow Ridge, the 2007 state champion, has lost two games all year against Southern Nevada teams.
That’s games, not matches. The Mustangs swept Centennial and have locked up the top spot.
Centennial, which swept Palo Verde, needs one win or a Palo Verde loss to get the No. 2 seed.
Palo Verde swept Cimarron and has secured no worse than the No. 3 seed.
Cimarron, which swept fifth-place Arbor View, is locked into the No. 4 seed and will visit either Sierra Vista or Bonanza in the first round.
Southwest League
Who’s in: Sierra Vista (12-0), Bonanza (12-1), Bishop Gorman (8-5), Spring Valley (8-5)
Side out: Durango (6-7), Clark (3-9), Western (1-11), Desert Oasis (0-12)
Breakdown: Sierra Vista and Bonanza will be the top two seeds, in some order. Sierra Vista won the teams’ first meeting, 3-1.
Bonanza likely will need to sweep the Mountain Lions on Wednesday to overtake Sierra Vista for the No. 1 seed. A 3-1 Bonanza win would require the NIAA’s fourth tiebreaker, points scored in head-to-head matchups — and for now, let’s not go there. A 3-2 Bonanza win or a Sierra Vista win gives the Mountain Lions the tiebreaker.
Gorman and Spring Valley appear headed for a tie at 9-5 for the third spot. The teams split head-to-head matchups and beat the same opponents. Gorman won five games to Spring Valley’s three in head-to-head matchups. Advantage Gorman.
Southeast League
Who’s in: Coronado (12-0, league champion), Basic (9-3), Silverado (9-3), Green Valley (7-5)
Side out: Foothill (5-7), Del Sol (3-9), Liberty (3-9), Tech (0-12)
Breakdown: Coronado is the Shadow Ridge of the Southeast. Or maybe Shadow Ridge is the Coronado of the Northwest.
Either way, the Cougars have 12 league sweeps to their credit and have locked up the No. 1 seed. Coronado has lost one overall match, but that doesn’t matter here.
The battle in this league is for the No. 2 seed, with Basic and Silverado both sitting at 9-3. Basic, though, must still host Coronado, making the Wolves’ road a bit more treacherous.
If Basic wins out, it gets the No. 2 seed, as Silverado and Basic split matches, but Basic will have a win over Coronado to its credit.
If the teams tie at 10-4, which seems slightly more likely than a tie at 11-3, that tie would probably still go to Basic, though it depends on who beats whom to get to that point.
Silverado is the No. 2 seed as long as it finishes with a better record than Basic.
Basic can’t fall to the No. 4 seed, since it would win any tiebreaker that involves Green Valley. Basic swept the Gators.
Green Valley must win out, including a victory over Silverado on Thursday, and have Silverado lose out to move up.
Northeast League
Who’s in: Las Vegas (11-0, league champion), Rancho (8-2)
Serving notice: Canyon Springs (5-5), Chaparral (4-6), Desert Pines (4-6), Valley (4-7)
Side out: Eldorado (0-10)
Breakdown: The top two spots are locked up, with the defending state champion Wildcats claiming the No. 1 seed after blitzing through the league schedule and Rancho taking door No. 2.
Chaparral’s win over Canyon Springs on Monday made the rest of this league an absolute mess to figure out.
Canyon Springs, at 5-5, is in with two wins. Easier said than done, though. The Pioneers’ remaining matches are against Vegas and Rancho.
It’s highly likely that Desert Pines and Chaparral would get in if either or both wins out.
Valley is the team that needs the most help, as it has only one match left and doesn’t control its own destiny.
There exists a painfully realistic possibility of a four-way tie for third at 5-7, with all four teams splitting head-to-head matchups. The next tiebreaker is games won in head-to-head matchups, which can’t yet be finalized.
The best answer to this league is simply stay tuned.
