Things are moving fast and furious for area volleyball teams. A somewhat new setup for the lower classes has regional play Monday and Tuesday with Sub-States Saturday. 

At 5A there are no regionals. Great Bend (33-2) is the 2nd seed on the west side and will host a 4-team sub-state Saturday. The Panthers will take on 15th seed Goddard at 1 pm at GBHS. A win there and Great Bend gets the winner of 7-10 matchup Hays and Valley Center for a spot at the 5A state tournament. 

Hoisington will also be at home Saturday for sub-state action after winning its regional. The Cardinals, now 33-4, will open play against Smoky Valley. A win there and the Cards will take on either Holcomb or Lakin for a spot at 3A state.

Ellinwood has been among the top ranked teams all season at 2A and will be home Saturday to earn a trip to state. The 35-2 Eagles rolled to the regional win and will host Sterling to open the 4-team sub-state. On the other side of the bracket is TMP and Phillipsburg.

At 1A, St. John, Otis-Bison, Macksville and Pawnee Heights advanced to sub-state play Saturday as well. 

St. John, the 6th seed, won its regional at DI, beating 3rd seed South Central in the finals. Otis-Bison was the top seed and hosted at DII, winning the title. Macksville and Pawnee Heights finished runner-ups to earn a slot in sub-state.

Otis-Bison will be hosting a sub-state. The Cougars, 23-12 on the year, are the top seed. Pawnee Heights is also there as the third seed at 13-19.

St. John will take its 26-12 mark to Spearville as the 2 seed. Spearville is 33-2. Macksville, 18-19, is the fourth seed taking on host and top seed South Gray, 30-6.

Prep Sports/Football predictions

Seven weeks are now in the books. Things are starting to get a bit interesting for some football teams in the area. Last week predictions were at a 9-1 pace, moving At the Mike to 60-10 on the season.

The lone miss last week came when Central Plains rolled into Little River and beat the Redskins. It was the second straight loss for Little River, which was ranked No. 2 just two weeks ago. That win sets up a huge game this week for the Oilers.

Meanwhile, Great Bend put a stranglehold on the top spot on the west side of 5A. The Panthers shutout arch-rival Hays and are now the only unbeaten team on the west side. A win at 2-5 Garden City and Great Bend will stay at home until the state title game as long as the Panthers keep winning.

Hoisington is a win from the district title and Ellinwood is fighting for its playoff lives despite playing No. 1 Conway Springs to its closest game since week two. Central Plains will battle for a district title.

So let’s get rolling.

Great Bend has a lot at stake Friday in Garden as home field up to the state title game is on the line. Garden’s only wins are over a pair of teams with three combined wins and one was over each other. The biggest obstacle here is Great Bend itself. Great Bend rolls and heads to the playoffs as the team to beat on the west side.

Hoisington should wrap up 2A District 8 this Friday with a win over Cimarron and head to the playoffs as the 4th seed in the new district set up. A potential first round foe could be a 5-3 Ellsworth if things break right (or wrong) come Friday night. 

Ellinwood, fresh off scaring No. 1 ranked Conway Springs, hosts Medicine Lodge. The winner most likely gets the fourth and final spot in 1A District 7. The loser gets a consolation game. Midway through the season, Medicine was ranked No. 2 in 1A. Now they are fighting for their playoff lives.

Look for Larned to drop its final game of the regular season, setting up a playoff date most likely at Garden Plain.

At 8-man, Central Plains opened some eyes last weekend with a win at Little River. The Oilers had annihilated everyone but Victoria this season, but winning over the No. 5 ranked Redskins was not to be. Instead, the Oilers put a season high 68 points on the board in a 68-44 win, setting up a battle with Ell Saline for the 8-Man District 3 title in Claflin. I’ve gotta go with Central Plains here.

Elsewhere in 8-man, St. John and Macksville will play for third place in 8-Man II District 6. I think St. John gets this one in the Stafford County battle at Macksville. Stafford will finish out its regular season with a loss at Fairfield.

In 6-man this week look for Otis to beat Chase and Ingalls to beat Pawnee Heights.

And Finally

I can see it. It’s just over the horizon. And I think I’m ready for it.

The month of October can be hectic around my house. Besides the daily work thing, many nights and weekends are filled with things as well. The biggest elephant in that room is officiating. 

Amongst officiating, church youth group, and school activities (this week a couple parent-teacher conferences) most of the week nights are swallowed up, etc. etc. etc. If you read At the Mike regularly, you know this.

That will be changing soon. At least for a small window of time.

As October rolls to an end next week, the officiating will drop off. No more three times a week. Just a playoff game or two through the rest of November. 

School activities slow as well, leaving Wednesday at the Methodist Church as the only weeknight activities for the next few weeks. 

Whew. 

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy my referee buddies. It is my choice to ref. September and October are our time. But when the calendar flips to the 11th month, I know I can take a breath. 

Long soaks in bubble baths. Evenings on the deck doing yoga. Some Barry Manilow. Maybe some Ann Murray. I can sip on some ginger tea. Maybe some chamomile.

Yeah, maybe not. No sense candles and oils. No oats and dried fruits. That’s not quite for me.

But it is time to take a deep breath. Spend more time on the couch with my grandkids. Actually be at home on a weekday evening with the wife. Hopefully this doesn’t drive her crazy. Believe it or not, I can be a tiny bit annoying on occasions, so I’ve been told. Geez.

Basketball practice starts November 18. That begins a 4-month stretch of leaving for school in the dark and getting home from practice in the dark. 

But that is still three weeks or so away.

Mike Marzolf is a guest columnist for the Great Bend Tribune. His views don’t necessarily reflect those of tha paper. He can be reached at marzolf13@ yahoo. com.