ONLINE ONLY: Sub-State pairings set for Saturday

Volleyball Sub-State Tournaments have been seeded and scheduled for all three of the high schools the Tribune covers. The tournaments were seeded Wednesday, which means that this online report is the only way this newspaper can bring them to its readers prior to Saturday, when all tournaments will be played.

Fort Scott will host a Class 4A-Division I Sub-State with the first match scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. featuring the top seed and Southeast Kansas League champions, Independence (33-4), against Montgomery County rival Coffeyville (8-23). About 10 to 20 minutes after the conclusion of that match, the third-seeded Tigers (14-21), who beat Independence in two sets Tuesday night, will take on second-seeded Labette County (23-14), which also has a recent victory over Indy.

The championship match should begin sometime between 4 and 4:30 with the winner advancing to the Class 4A-Division I State Tournament at Salina. This will be the final Class 4A-DI State tourney for the sport as the class will no longer be split into divisions beginning with the 2018-19 school year.

Northeast (14-19), which concluded regular-season play with a sweep of Girard and Columbus Tuesday night, will be the No. 6 seed in the Erie Class 3A Sub-State Tournament. Two courts will be in use with play starting at 2 p.m.

The 2 o'clock matches will have No. 8 Caney Valley (2-28) taking on top seed Riverton (34-3) in the top half of the bracket on the north court and No. 7 Cherryvale (8-24) facing second-seeded Erie (30-6) in the bottom half on the south side. Northeast faces No. 3 Neodesha (18-15) at about 3:15 on the south court while No. 5 Fredonia (13-16) plays No. 4 Southeast (19-18) on the north court.

Semifinals will also be played on two courts. They should begin sometime between 4:15 and 4:30. The north court first-round winners will face off on that court and the south court winners will do likewise. The championship match will be played on the north court. The champion will go to the Class 3A State Tournament at Kansas State University.

Uniontown (12-23) will play in the Yates Center Class 2A Sub-State. Two courts will be used beginning at 2 p.m. with the top half of the bracket played in Norris Gym and the bottom half in the east gym.

Play in the east gym will begin with Howard-West Elk (4-26), the No. 7 seed, facing second-seeded Oswego (23-14) at 2 p.m. Sixth-seeded Uniontown plays No. 3 Yates Center (20-15) in the following match. The semifinal for this half of the bracket will be played in the east gym sometime between 4 and 4:30.

The first match in Norris Gym pits eighth-seeded Sedan (3-27) against CNC League champion Colgan (30-5) at 2 p.m. Following that, the fifth-seeded Madison/Hamilton co-op team (14-16) will face No. 4 Pleasanton (18-20). The semifinal for this side will be held in Norris Gym between 4 and 4:30.

The championship match will be held in Norris Gym with the champion moving on to the Class 2A State Tournament in Manhattan.