High School Volleyball Forum: SEMO tourney.

Replies (4)

• What new tournament format?

  -- Posted by Dustin Ward on Sun, Aug 13, 2017, at 6:49 PM

• @SEMOVBFan, they usually post the schedule at the end of August/beginning of September. You can usually find it posted on the Show-Me Center website.

  @DustinWard, word on the street is that they're changing the tournament format similar to how the ASU Play Day is run. Apparently (and this is just rumors that I've heard) they're going to break the tournament into two divisions with the better teams in one division and the worse teams in the other, that way the good teams get more out of it and the bad teams can play teams at their own level. It's been a problem for years now with this tournament in that the good teams just walk over those teams from the Bootheel in pool play with scores of like 25-1, 25-2, 25-3, etc. and the good teams get nothing out of that and the bad teams just get humiliated. That's why the typical volleyball powerhouses in the area like Advance, Bernie, Dexter, Perryville, and St. Vincent have left the tournament to compete in stronger ones (although I see that St. Vincent is returning to the tournament this year following their lackluster performance in the stacked Gateway City Match-Up Tournament last season in St. Louis...although they were the only Class 1 team in that tournament).

  Poplar Bluff has left the tournament this season and is competing at the West Plains Showdown the same weekend. Another strong team, Bismarck, has left the tournament as well, as has Park Hills Central, and are instead both competing in a tournament closer to home (the North County Lady Raiders Invitational in Bonne Terre). I'm sure Jackson and Notre Dame would like to leave the tournament but probably can't because it's "local." This format would be better for all teams in it but like I said, it's just rumors and since a schedule hasn't been posted, we can't know for sure.

  If I had to guess, I'd imagine these would be some of the teams that would be placed in the better division: Arcadia Valley, Bloomfield, DeSoto, Eminence, Farmington, Hillsboro, Jackson, Jefferson, Lesterville, New Haven, Notre Dame, Saxony Lutheran, Seckman, St. Vincent, and Winona. (Arcadia Valley and DeSoto are newcomers to the tournament but have had strong teams in the past few years).

  Does anyone know who the eighth team is that will be playing at the Notre Dame Volleyball Fest? Advance, Bernie, Dexter, Notre Dame, Perryville, St. Vincent, and Ste. Genevieve are in it, but I can't find the eighth team. Lindbergh was in it last year but it's not on their schedule this year. Just curious if it's going to be another local team or if it'll be some team from the St. Louis area. They usually have the Sports Fest brackets posted on their website but I can't find them...anyone?

  -- Posted by The Legend on Mon, Aug 14, 2017, at 12:58 AM

• Looks to me like they only have 7 teams. 8-31 Dexter, Perryville, and Advance play round robin 3 sets abbreviated 3rd set.

  9-1 Bernie, Ste. Gen. ND, St. Vincent play regular pool play.

  Bracket play looks like 3rd place in pool B gets a bye in the silver bracket. Everything else is pretty much the same as if you had 8 teams

  -- Posted by heshootshescores on Tue, Aug 15, 2017, at 3:02 PM

• Thanks, HeShootsHeScores. That looks like a tournament that could go either way, but I'm curious to see how Dexter will be without the Garrison girl on the court. Surprised they couldn't find an eighth team to give the tournament more balance.

  -- Posted by The Legend on Thu, Aug 17, 2017, at 1:34 AM