LAKE COUNTY — The Kelseyville High School volleyball team puts its season on the line Friday night when it hosts Justin-Siena of Napa in the opening round of the North Coast Section Division 4 playoffs. The best-of-five match begins at 7 p.m.
“They’re good, really good,” Kelseyville head coach Donelle McCallister said of the Braves, the fourth-place finishers in the Vine Valley Athletic League with a 6-6 record.
The top three teams in the VVAL are all big schools — Vintage and Sonoma Valley, the league’s co-champions, and third-place Petaluma. Justin-Siena split its home-and-away season series with both Vintage and Sonoma Valley.
Kelseyville is the undefeated North Central League I champion (13-0) and the No. 3 seed in the Division 4 playoff field after No. 1 Cardinals Newman and No. 2 University High School of San Francisco. The Knights are 22-5 overall to Justin-Siena’s 8-13.
If the Knights prevail on Friday, they’ll host either No. 6 Roseland University Prep or No. 11 Fort Bragg in the quarterfinals on a day to be determined.
Clear Lake
The North Coast Section had do some shuffling to accommodate the Division 5 teams impacted by the huge Kincade Fire in Sonoma County and the North Coast-wide PG&E power shut-off, including No. 9 seed Clear Lake and No. 8 Sonoma Academy of Santa Rosa, who collide in a first-round match Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Sonoma Academy High School.
The teams were originally scheduled to play last Tuesday, then the match was pushed back to Thursday only to be moved again to Nov. 5.
The winner will likely have to do a quick turnaround for the quarterfinals, which could take place Wednesday against the winner of a first-round match between No. 1 seed Marin Academy of San Rafael and No. 16 Salesian of Richmond.
Clear Lake finished 5-9 in the NCL I this season and 16-16 overall. Sonoma Academy finished third in the NCL II standings at 11-5 and went 17-7 overall.
