LAKE COUNTY >> Ten out of 15 of Lake County’s high school varsity soccer and volleyball teams are advancing to the North Coast Section playoffs this week. Nine of those 10 squads play either Tuesday or Wednesday in opening-round matches while the Middletown High School girls soccer team has a bye into Saturday’s quarterfinals in Division I.
Here’s rundown of the teams that made it to the posteason and who, when and where they’ll be playing in the first round:
Girls soccer
Division I
Middletown (16-3-2), the co-North Central League I champion along with St. Helena, is the No. 4 seed in the 16-team bracket for Division I. Because only 12 teams applied for playoff berths, each of the top four seeds has a first-round bye and will host a quarterfinal-round game on Saturday. Middletown will draw the winner of a Wednesday game between No. 5 Technology (16-3) and No. 12 Willits (3-10-1) on Saturday in Middletown at a time to be determined.
The only teams seeded higher than Middletown are No. 1 Eureka (17-1-1), No. 2 Arcata (17-4-1) and No. 3 Fortuna (13-4-3).
At-large team Clear Lake (11-8-1) is the No. 8 seed and will host No. 9 McKinleyville (7-12-3) on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in first-round action. The winner travels to Eureka on Saturday to take on the No. 1-seeded Loggers in the quarterfinals.
At-large team Kelseyville (6-10) draws a familiar foe in co-NCL I champion St. Helena (10-2) in first-round action on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at St. Helena. The winner hits the road Saturday to play No. 3 Fortuna in the quarterfinals.
Girls soccer
Division III
At-large team Upper Lake (6-15) is the No. 8 seed in the eight-team Division III girls soccer playoffs. The Cougars open Wednesday against undefeated No. 1 seed St. Vincent (16-0) at 3:30 p.m. in Petaluma. If the Cougars can score a huge upset, they’ll advance to the semifinals on Saturday at either Rincon Valley Christian or Calistoga.
Boys soccer
Division I
No. 12 seed Lower Lake (8-4-1) and No. 16 Kelseyville (6-7-2) are at-large teams in the 16-team Division I boys soccer postseason bracket. Lower Lake travels to No. 8 Arcata (16-4-1) for a first-round game Wednesday at 5 p.m. at McKinleyville High School while Kelseyville plays at undefeated No. 1 seed Fortuna (19-0-3) on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
The Lower Lake-Arcata winner draws the No. 4 Roseland University Prep-No. 12 Del Norte winner in Saturday’s quarterfinal round. The Kelseyville-Fortuna winner plays the No. 8 McKinleyville-No. 9 International winner in Saturday’s quarterfinals.
Boys soccer
Division III
At-large team Upper Lake (7-12) is the No. 15 seed in the 16-team Division III boys soccer playoff bracket and hits the road Wednesday to play No. 2 Making Waves of Academy (13-2-2) in a first-round game at 3:30 p.m at Martin Luther King Park in Richmond. An upset win would put the Cougars into the quarterfinals Saturday against either The Bay School or St. Vincent.
Volleyball
Division IV
NCL I co-champion Kelseyville (25-3) is the No. 6 seed in the 16-team Division IV volleyball playoffs and is home Wednesday to play Healdsburg (15-10) at 7 p.m. The winner of that first-round match plays the winner of No. 3 Lick-Wilmerdin vs. No. 14 Roseland University Prep on Saturday in the quarterfinals at a time and site to be determined.
The top five seeds in Division IV are No. 1 Branson School of Ross (20-5), No. 2 Head-Royce (24-6), No. 3 Lick-Wilmerding (20-5), No. 4 Del Norte (24-2) and No. 5 Cardinal Newman (17-11).
Volleyball
Division V
No. 4 seed Clear Lake (26-5) and No. 15 Upper Lake (11-5) are at-large teams in the 16-team Division V volleyball postseason bracket and both open play Tuesday night at 7 p.m. in first-round matches. Clear Lake hosts No. 13 College Prep (9-12) while Upper Lake plays at Marin Academy High School in San Rafael.
The Clear Lake-College Prep winner advances to Saturday’s quarterfinals against the No. 5 Berean Christain-No. 12 Urban winner (Clear Lake would host that match if it beats College Prep). The Upper Lake-Marin Academy winner draws The Bay School-Salesian winner in Saturday’s quarterfinals.
