Stallions host, Liberty travels in playoffs

Earlier this week, the Liberty Hawks girls volleyball team was seeded No. in the Div. V Central Section playoffs that begin this week.

However, a win over Chowchilla on Thursday sent the Hawks from the No. 1 seed in Div. V to the No. 15 seed in Div. IV.

So, instead of hosting playoffs games this season, the Hawks get a first-round match with second seeded East Bakersfield on Tuesday. The winner faces the No. 7 McFarland-No. 10 Immanuel-Reedley winner.

Meanwhile, the Stallions, who took County/Metro Athletic Conference champions Sanger to four sets was sent down three spots from the computer rankings and given a No. 6 seed in Div. IV.

This year, the Central Section is seeding teams purely bases on computer rankings. However, that can allow a team to “tank” if needed in order to have a favorable seed.

For Madera South and Liberty, they did what they needed to do and were “punished” for winning and battling close.

The Stallions open the playoffs hosting No. 11 Dinuba on Tuesday and will face the winner of No. 3 Golden West-Visalia and No. 14 Orosi.

Match times are 6 p.m.