Nike Tournament of Champions gives high school volleyball teams a chance for a postseason primer

Video: Xcellent 25 Volleyball Rankings presented by the Army National Guard

Come one, come all sizes.

The annual Nike Tournament of Champions girls volleyball tournament takes place in Arizona this weekend, as teams from all around the country make their way to the Valley of the Sun at three different venues - KROC Center in Phoenix, Court One in Tempe and Spiral Volleyball Center in Chandler.

There are 64 teams from 12 different states in town for a chance to do some prep work before the postseason arrives in about a month. Nearly all of the Arizona's top big-school programs will get their shot in pool play, but this isn't a Division I only tournament. Smaller programs like Chandler Prep, Thatcher and Tempe Prep have their place as well.

There are 16 divisions with four teams in each. After the four teams are seeded within their pool, it breaks off into eight mini tournaments with the top teams headed to the Platinum bracket.

"We know that we can count on competitive teams, often many we never see during the regular season," said Millennium (Goodyear) coach Julie Vastine, whose Tigers are one of the top teams in Division II. "I think the timing of the tournament is good for us. I like that it is midseason."

Truth to be told, Arizona teams better not be in midseason form this weekend and expect to make it out of pool play as one of the top four teams.

The field is strong, filled with programs that have plenty of banners in the gym and trophies in the hallways.
Florida's P.K. Yonge (Gainesville, Fla.), which is ranked No. 2 in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 National Volleyball Rankings presented by the Army National Guard and No. 24 in the computer rankings, heads the list along with Jesuit (Portland, Ore.) (No. 8 in Xcellent 25), Parkland (Allentown, Pa.) (No. 10 in Xcellent 25), Redondo Union (Redondo Beach, Calif.) (No. 13 in computer rankings) and Immaculate Heart Academy (Washington Township, N.J.) (No. 17 in Xcellent 25) in the field along with Arizona's own Xavier College Prep (Phoenix) (No. 13 in Xcellent 25).

It means there are going to be a lot drawn-out, intense matches played throughout the weekend.

Some of the top pools to watch are out for are Pool D that includes Parkland, Gilbert, Flagstaff and St. John Lutheran (Ocala, Fla.), Pool G that has Arizona defending champion Desert Vista (Phoenix), Immaculate Heart, Carson (Carson City, Nev.) and Millennium.

"It allows us to see what we need to work on, yet gives us some time to refine those adjustments before the postseason," Vastine said.

Another one will be Pool B, where Xavier is a top team while Mountain Pointe (Phoenix), a young team with hopes of a long postseason run, has a chance to see where it stacks up with one of the favorites a month before the postseason begins.

"I don't think any of the top five or six D-I teams have two freshman starters like we do, so we are always looking to get them more experience," Mountain Pointe coach Karen Gray said. "We have been tending to play at the level of our competition and it would be great to get a little more consistent and play how we play instead of being overly influenced by our opponent."

While Mountain Pointe is familiar with Xavier, the other two teams – Pleasant Valley (Chico, Calif.) and Yerington (Nev.) – give the Pride a chance to tinker and grow.

"It's a great opportunity to continue to jell as a team and work on some of our weaknesses," Gray said. "It's also a great way to play teams that you have never seen before and really don't have any preconceived notions about, just what you know through scouting and research.

"The timing is also good because we are heading into the second half of our season, so we can use the experience against some tougher teams."

Jason P. Skoda, a former Arizona Republic sports writer and current Prep Sports Director for 1013 Communications, is a 20-year sports writing veteran. Contact him at jskoda1024@aol.com.