NORTH BEND — North Bend’s volleyball team has spent most of the season as the No. 1 team in Class 4A. On Saturday, the Bulldogs finally could say they were officially No. 1 in the Far West League as well, clinching the outright league title by winning a five-set match with Siuslaw.

“I think it’s awesome,” said North Bend senior Alexandra Mateski of the league title, the first for the school since her freshman year. “I love it.”

The Bulldogs beat the Vikings 20-25, 25-21, 25-17, 23-25, 15-7 in the first of three matches on the final day of the regular season at North Bend.

A later 25-8, 25-20, 25-11 win over Brookings-Harbor gave the Bulldogs a perfect 10-0 league record.

Between North Bend’s two matches, Siuslaw beat the Bruins 22-25, 25-12, 25-15, 25-23 to earn the league’s No. 2 seed for the playoffs. Brookings-Harbor enters as the No. 3 seed.

North Bend will host either Phoenix or Estacada in a second-round playoff match Saturday for a spot in the state tournament. Siuslaw travels to Newport, also on Saturday, for a berth in the tournament. Brookings-Harbor has a much harder road to the tournament. First the Bruins need to win a match Wednesday at either Banks or Seaside, who break a tie for third place in the Cowapa League tonight. The winner of Wednesday’s match has to travel to Greater Oregon League champion Baker on Saturday.

North Bend already had secured at least a share of the league title before the matches over the weekend, but the players were happy to win it outright.

“I think it’s great,” said junior Haley Dunham. “We’re really motivated.”

The Bulldogs struggled in the first game against Siuslaw, but then bounced back.

“We all kind of figured out we had to work together,” Mateski said.

Siuslaw, meanwhile, played one of its best matches of the year.

“This is the time of the season we want to be playing like this,” Siuslaw coach Amy Peterson said. “It was a disappointing loss, but this is the way I want us to be playing.

“North Bend played well. They earned the win.”

The Vikings had to bounce back quickly from the loss to the Bulldogs, knowing they needed a win over Brookings-Harbor to secure second place.

The Vikings were able to rebound from the first-game loss to the Bruins by sweeping the final three.

By the time North Bend and Brookings-Harbor took the court in the early afternoon, all the playoff spots had been settled.

North Bend coach Les Willett said the tripleheader was a good way to finish the regular season.

“(We had) some outstanding volleyball as all the matches were hard-fought,” he said. “As these three teams go into the playoffs, they each have a real chance of reaching the state tournament.”

The Bulldogs didn’t plan on taking long to celebrate their title.

“It’s a great accomplishment,” Mateski said, adding the team has to work hard in practice this week to prepare for the playoff match.

The players said they haven’t felt any extra pressure playing for several weeks with the top ranking.

“It hasn’t really phased us,” Dunham said.

Mateski finished Saturday’s matches with 37 kills, 22 digs and three blocks, while Dunham had 18 kills, 23 digs and four blocks. Kristin Banta added 11 kills and five blocks, while setter Katie Banta had 68 assists and 15 digs. Ashley Horlacher and Lorin Krossman combined for 44 digs on defense.

For Siuslaw, Jenna Hanslits had 24 kills, four aces and a stuff block, Kate Henry had eight kills and Katie Catalfamo had 15 kills.

For Brookings-Harbor, Nicole Watterson had 14 kills and 20 blocks. Briana Gutierrez and Danielle Ambrose combined for 42 assists, Felicia Gutierrez had 43 digs and Shawna Cooper had 13 digs and seven kills.

In the league’s other tripleheader, at Sutherlin, Douglas beat Sutherlin, 25-20, 25-19, 25-22; South Umpqua beat Sutherlin 25-17, 25-16, 25-23; and South Umpqua beat Douglas in four games.

South Umpqua tied Brookings-Harbor for third place in the standings, but the Bruins earned the third playoff seed because they won both matches with the Lancers.