By Lon Austin
The balance of power in 5A volleyball appears to be east of the Cascades.
In the latest 5A volleyball poll five of the eight teams in the Intermountain Conference are ranked in the top 10 in the state.
The success of the IMC is unmistakable. The last two seasons, the conference has finished one-two at the state championships, and this year the league looks like it may be even stronger.
Crook County is currently ranked number one in the state, and their third place finish at the Rogue Valley Tournament, which was dominated by 6A schools, helped solidify that ranking.
Pendleton, who is at the South Albany State Preview Tournament this weekend along with Crook County, has moved up to second place in the polls. Mountain View, Summit, and Bend are not far behind, ranked fifth, seventh and ninth respectively.
The problem for the conference is that as they play each other, some of the schools are beginning to pile up losses.
Bend won the consolation bracket of last week's tournament, but currently has just two wins and five losses in conference play. Summit, last year's second place team at the state championships, is 2-3 in league play. Only Crook County, Pendleton, and Mountain View currently have winning records on the season.
In addition, only four teams from the league can qualify for the state playoffs.
This year's playoff brackets make it look tough for some of the IMC teams to even make it to the tournament proper.
The fourth-place team from the league will play the third-place team from the Northwest Oregon League in round one, and then face the number-one seed from the Mid-Willamette Conference in round two. The Mid-Willamette Conference is the other strong conference in the state, with three teams from the conference currently in the state rankings.
The third-place team from the IMC appears to have easier sledding, playing the fourth-place team from the Northwest Oregon League, then the first team from the Midwestern League, which has no teams currently in the state rankings.
Then the IMC second place team really gets the short end of the stick. They get a first round bye, then face the champion of the Southern Sky Conference on the road. The two teams will be the only one and two seeds that don't play either three or four seeds in the second round of the tournament. Ashland, from the Southern Sky Conference, is currently ranked third in the state, placed at state a year ago, and appears to have the inside track to win their league title.
The Oregon State Athletic Association (OSAA) really needs to look at their playoff format. It seems a shame that when the state tournament rolls around at Liberty High School in November one of the top three teams in the state won't be there because two of those teams have to play each other in an earlier round.
A true state championship should involve the top eight teams in the state, and this year's championship clearly won't.
With the importance the brackets place on winning league games, it is especially impressive that the Cowgirls were able to substitute at will and play all their players during their Tuesday match against Bend.
Substitutes become critical if any players become sick or injured during the course of the season. So when head coach Rosie Honl was able to play her bench in an important league match she strengthened her team for later in the season.
In other news for all you Oregon Duck fans who haven't already heard, on Thursday night in front of a nationally televised audience, the Oregon State Beavers took it to the number one ranked USC Trojans. The Beavers won 27-21, as freshman running back Jacquizz Rodgers gained 186 yards on the ground, and scored two touchdowns, while his sophomore brother James caught two touchdown passes.
In their first two games of the year USC gave up a total of only 102 rushing yards. The Beavers didn't do it with gimmicks or trick plays either, they just took the ball straight up the middle most of the night.
Finally, in this post 9-11 era, security for major sports events has reached a ridiculous level.
On Wednesday, the Philadelphia Phillies mascot, the Phillie Phanatic, shot several heavily wrapped hot dogs from a launcher as part of a television commercial.
Several hours later stadium employees were evacuated for a bomb scare.
Authorities exploded three possible bombs, only to discover that they had detonated three sausages in the name of public safety.
Reports are that no ketchup, mustard, or other condiments were harmed in the explosions, and Wednesday night's baseball game went off as scheduled.
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