Document text
State playoff surge starts today North, Roseburg netters take spotlight By RANDY HAMMERICKSEN North Medford High's volleyball team will play in a three-team state volleyball sub-playoff tournament today at North Bend High School. The Black Tornado (12-8) will meet Silverton at 4:30 p.m. in the North Bend gym. The winner of the match will face North Bend, the No. 3 team from the Midwestern League, at 7 p.m. for the right to continue on in the state playoffs. The survivor of the three-team tournament will play Wednesday night at Benson Tech in Portland for the right to advance to the Class 4A final-16 portion of the state tournament at the Chiles Center in Portland on Friday and Saturday. "We're peaking at the end of the season, which is nice," says North Medford coach Ron Beick. Beick knows well the power of timing, having coached six straight Black Tornado teams into the state playoffs after winning three Southern Oregon Conference titles during those years. North Medford finished third in the 1998 state tournament. "We won our last four conference games, and the girls are playing with more and more confidence," says Beick." I think our best volleyball is still ahead of us." Beick says outside hitter Jill Carrigan, a 5-foot-8 junior, has led the Black Tornado on its late-season surge to a tie for third place in the SOC standings and a step away from the state playoffs. North Medford's lone stumble late in the season came Saturday when Roseburg prevailed in three games in a playoff match between the two teams that tied for third place in the SOC. Roseburg will host a three-team sub-playoff tournament tonight, with the Indians only needing a win over the Marshfield-Tigard winner to advance. Ashland, the conference champion with a 16-0 record, has already qualified for the state tournament. In the Class 4A high school soccer playoffs, the Grants Pass girls and Roseburg boys will play sub-playoff matches Tuesday, while North Medford and South Medford, co-champions of the SOC, will play their girls state playoff openers next weekend. South Medford's girls will meet South Salem at 1 p.m. Saturday at Fichtner-Mainwaring Park and North Medford's girls will face North Eugene Saturday at 1 p.m. at Varsity Field. South Medford coach Leslie Lang says her team has played its best soccer since it defeated North Medford in a shootout three weeks ago to earn a share of the SOC title with the Black Tornado. By virtue of its win over North Medford, South has the No. 1 seed from the Southern Oregon Conference. "We lost to South Salem in the state playoffs last year, so there is a motivational factor for us," says Lang. "We know how South Salem plays and we think we can beat them." North Medford coach Dick Darcy says his Black Tornado players need to play better as a team in the state playoffs. "We've been working hard on that," says Darcy. "I really believe we have the ability to go all the way (win the state championship) if we play our best soccer and play together. "We're determined to go farther than the quarterfinals this year." The Black Tornado were eliminated by eventual state champion Jesuit in the quarterfinals of the 1998 state playoffs. North Medford lost to Jesuit, 6-3, earlier this season at Varsity Field. "We led them 2-0 in the first half and 2-1 at halftime," says Darcy. "Then, we dropped off in the second half. But we know what it takes and we think we can play with anybody in the state based on that game." The second-seeded South Medford boys soccer team will travel to Lincoln High of Portland to open the state playoffs Saturday. The Ashland High boys, champions of the SOC, will open against North Bend in the state playoffs Saturday at Ashland Middle School. The state cross country championships will be held Saturday afternoon at Lane Community College in Eugene. Conference individual champions Paris Edwards of Ashland and Ian Dobson of Klamath Union will be chasing state titles in the Class 4A division, and Hidden Valley twins Emily and Alanna Steinert, who finished 1-2 in the Skyline girls final, are expected to contend for a 3A title along with Selena Harman and Bobbi Wright of Rogue River. Warren Clarida of Rogue River is also expected to challenge for a state individual title. "Don't count him out," said Rogue River coach Gary Anderson. "The worse the weather is, the better Warren is in big meets. He's a mudder, and that course is probably pretty wet by now." Phoenix will take its entire boys varsity team to the state meet after finishing second to champion Henley in last Saturday's Skyline Conference finals at Valley of the Rogue State Park. The regular season ends Friday night in Southern Oregon Conference football. Roseburg, North Medford and Grants Pass have clinched state playoff berths. Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, OR U.S.A.