Salpointe is the top-ranked team in the 4A Conference. (Andy Morales/AZPreps365.com)

 

The initial AIA rankings for volleyball were released on Thursday morning which means it’s time for a refresher on how the playoff system works, using teams from Southern Arizona as an example.

16 teams will qualify for the state playoffs from each of the six conferences but some of the conferences have a special twist to the formula with the 1A Conference requiring the most attention.

In the 1A Conference, each region will earn two automatic bids to the state tournament but with some extra detail for each region.  The top two teams from the 1A South (at this moment No. 6 St. David and No. 17 Valley Union) will get the automatic berths but the other regions have region tournaments to decide the playoff berths. Since there are five regions in the 1A Conference, only six at-large berths will be available. As of today, Valley Union is ranked No. 17 in the state so, if the season ended today, the Blue Devils would be in the playoffs which means one of the other teams in the top 16 would be bumped out of contention.

In the 2A Conference, the champion from each of the eight regions will get an automatic bid to the state playoffs but the eight runners-up will play the next eight conference teams in a play-in tournament to decide the next eight team in. As of today, No. 11 St. Augustine would get the automatic berth from the South Region but No. 10 Benson and No. 19 Willcox would move on to the play-in tournament.

In the 3A Conference, the top eight ranked teams will get in to the state tournament but the top two teams from each of the six regions are guaranteed a spot in the play-in tournament at the very least. At this point, No. 5 Pusch Ridge and No. 8 Tanque Verde would get the automatic bids while No. 20 Sabino and No. 24 Empire would move on to the play-in tournament.

In the 4A conference, the top team in each of the eight regions are in while the other eight spots are awarded based on ranking. No. 1 Salpointe would get in from the Kino Region and No. 27 Palo Verde would get the automatic berth from the Gila Region if the season ended today. No. 6 Nogales might be safe for an at-large berth but other teams will get bumped to make room for automatic qualifiers that fall outside of the top 16.

In the 5A and 6A region, teams ranked 1-8 will be in with the next 16 making up the play-in tournaments. The region winners will be guaranteed a spot in the play-in tournament at the very least. The automatic bid from the 6A Southern Region will be determined by a tournament involving the Tucson Sub-Region and the Yuma Sub-Region. As of today, No. 7 Kofa would play No. 16 Rincon/University for the 6A Southern Region automatic berth.

In 5A action, No. 10 Ironwood Ridge, No. 11 Mountain View Marana, No. 16 Sahuaro, No. 19 Cienega and No. 31 Marana would play in the play-in tournament.  In 6A, only No.16 Rincon/University would advance from the Tucson area.