LAKE COUNTY >> Between Kelseyville, Clear Lake and Middletown, Lake County is well represented as the North Coast Section Division IV volleyball playoffs get underway Wednesday night with eight first-round matches.
The 16-team field features a handful of powerhouses but only two league champions — No. 4 seed Kelseyville (22-7) of the North Central League I and No. 5 Arcata (23-2) of the Humboldt-Del Norte League.
There are eight first-round matches Wednesday and all begin at 7 p.m. Kelseyville hosts No. 13 Healdsburg (10-10), No. 11 Clear Lake (19-9) hits the road to take on No. 6 McKinleyville (22-12) at McKinleyville High School, and No. 14 Middletown (11-11) travels to Vallejo to play No. 3 St. Patrick/St. Vincent (26-11) at St. Patrick/St. Vincent High School.
First-round winners advance to the quarterfinals on Saturday. If Kelseyville beats Healdsburg, the Knights would host either Arcata or No. 12 seed Lick-Wilmerding (13-14), most likely at 7 p.m.
Semifinal-round matches are Nov. 18 and the Division IV championship match takes place Nov. 21.
Other first-round matches on Wednesday have No. 16 Berean Christian (10-19) at No. 1 Marin Catholic (27-9), No. 9 Piedmont (9-16) at No. 8 St. Helena (14-9), No. 15 Roseland Prep (15-10) at No. 2 Cardinal Newman, and No. 10 St. Mary’s (12-15) at No. 7 Justin-Siena (10-15).
The St. Patrick/St. Vincent-Middletown and McKinleyville-Clear Lake winners on Wednesday meet in the quarterfinals Saturday at the home site of the highest surviving seed.
