The North Coast Section volleyball playoffs continued for the local contingent of teams on Wednesday night, as the Arcata Tigers traveled to Alameda to play Encinal.
The Pacific League runners-up fell in four sets, losing a competitive matchup 23-25, 25-23, 25-22, 25-22.
The loss was the first for an H-DNL team in the playoffs and ended an impressive season for the Arcata girls, who were seeded No. 11 in the Division-4 bracket.
The win for No. 6 Encinal sets up a quarterfinal showdown at No. 3 Upper Lake on Saturday afternoon.
There was little to separate the two schools in all four sets, with just two or three points the difference in each.
Juniors Betty Miles and Colby Eisner continued to play a key role for the Tigers, as each closed out impressive seasons.
Miles finished the night with a team-high 14 kills, while Eisner had 12 kills and senior Kyla Kinyon added 10 kills.
Two other juniors also made their presence felt.
Ellie White added seven kills and Karely Ruiz dished out a team-high 42 assists.
“We played very well and I am proud of how far the girls have come this year,” head coach Laurie Griffith said. “They always played together as a team and were a joy to coach.”
Senior Eli Kanzler, sophomore Trinity Circosta and freshman Lotus Low all “served consistently tough,” according to the coach.
With just two seniors on this year’s team — Kinyon and Kanzler — the Tigers, who feature very deep and talented junior class, should return most of their players for next year and should be even stronger after pushing Eureka all the way in the race for this year’s Pacific League championship.
Four of the five H-DNL teams to qualify for this years NCS playoffs are still alive heading into the weekend quarterfinals.
Two of them will host their quarterfinals.
In Division 5, No. 1 seed Del Norte will play No. 8 De Anza in Crescent City and No. 11 St. Bernard’s will travel to play at No. 3 International after a thrilling five-sets win at Healdsburg on Tuesday night.
Also on Saturday, the No. 3 seed in Division 6, Ferndale, will host No. 6 Mendocino after receiving an opening-round bye this week.
In Division 3, No 7 Eureka will head to Napa to play No. 2 Justin-Siena after a straight sets win over Petaluma on Tuesday.
All four of Saturday’s games are scheduled for 1 p.m.
