With the 2023 regular season over for the volleyball season, the playoffs for the 5A bracket are set to begin on Saturday. The Wilsonville Wildcats, who hold the #6 seed, will host the #11 seed Mountain View Cougars at 2:00 p.m. on the 28th.
Mountain View heads into the first round with a (12-10) overall record and a (5-5) league record in what was a very tough intermountain conference. That Intermountain Conference will see four teams in the playoffs, including Bend #7 seed, Summit #9, Mountain View #11, and Ridgeview #13.
This tough conference schedule should prepare Mountain View very well for the playoffs, and though Wilsonville is ranked higher in the seedings, there is a very valid argument that Mountain View had a much tougher strength of schedule, and that could help them come to the playoffs.
Wilsonville, on the other hand, is riding a roller coaster of emotions coming into this first-round contest; after a draining five-set loss to La Salle earlier in the week, it looked like they would share the NWOC championship with those same Falcons. However, after defeating Centennial on Senior Night and La Salle suffering an embarrassing loss at home to Rex Putnam, Wilsonville will take home another NWOC champion trophy.
The feelings in the Wilsonville locker room are very positive right now, as senior Olivia Lyons commented on the vibes behind closed doors: “The biggest thing for us in this part of the season is keeping our mindset positive and playing as a team to thrive.”
Wilsonville will be leaning on their senior leadership to help them get to their ultimate goal of a state championship, one of those leaders being Ashlyn Hartford, who spoke on the expectations for Wilsonville heading into the playoffs, saying, “We want to focus on one game at a time, put all the pressure on the other team, minimize our mistakes, and play with confidence.”
Wilsonville and Mountain View will square off for the right to move on to the second round and take another step in achieving the ultimate goal of winning a state championship.