Volleyball season begins at the 43rd annual Woodland Invitational Tournament

While the focus at many local communities goes toward football on Friday evenings as fall sports get started, that isn't the case at every high school, especially for ones that don't have a football program.

Volleyball is also on the agenda for many schools this time of year. This Friday, Sept. 6, the winner of the annual Woodland Invitational Tournament will be decided in the championship match.

Woodland High School has hosted its annual Woodland Invitational Tourney since 1983. Historically, the event has consistently been an eight-team tournament. Woodland has been among the top four teams every year since 2013, including taking home the title four times in that span.

"The tournament is a great way to kick off the season," Woodland coach Emily Johnson said. "Teams get to play two to three games of competitive volleyball during the first week of the season. Teams also get to see the performance of seven other teams from the area."

Quarterfinal matches in the eight-team tournament began Tuesday, Sept. 3. No. 5 Woodland played a festive host and defeated No. 4 Meadow Heights in three sets (25-13, 25-19, 25-20) as the only upset of the round. The Cardinals were led by nine kills from Mallory Barks and 26 assists from Dezi Braswell.

Top-seeded Leopold defeated Zalma in three sets (25-21, 25-6, 25-20) to cap the first round of matches and start its season of expectations.

"I think it's actually a really good start for us," Leopole coach Heather Jansen said. "We get to see some of the teams that we're going to see throughout the season. We get to see them up close and personal right off the bat, kind of get you a gage on how everybody is going to be and how they're going to be playing as the season goes."

Tournament defending champion No. 3 Perryville defeated No. 6 Oak Ridge in three sets (25-20, 25-21, 25-23), led by Ellie Gerler with seven kills, Allyson Burns with 12 assists, and Jewel Riney with 17 digs.

Of the four teams to fall in the first round, Oak Ridge made it more of a close fight. Reagan Howe led the team with 14 kills and four blocks while Kenadie Ward had 20 assists and Kinsley Bogenpohl had 18 digs.

"Proud of the girls and their effort for our first game of the season," Oak Ridge coach Starla Pully said. "Their energy was great and we had a balanced offense to contribute."

Both Perryville, a newcomer last year replacing Saxony Lutheran, and Leopold look to set up a championship rematch on Friday, Sept. 6, at 7:30 p.m.

"We always try to better ourselves," Jansen said. "We came in second against Perryville. So this year you always want to try to push yourself and make yourself do better than what you did before. So there's a little bit of a push for that first place."

No. 2 Bell City, who won the tournament in 2022, also defeated No. 7 Greenville in three sets (25-14, 25-18, 25-17). Bell City, like Leopold, is a part of Class 1 District 3, which is one of the most competitive districts in all of Class 1. Zalma and Meadow Heights are also included in that district, which is consistently won by Advance, a local juggernaut that has won eight straight district titles and five state championships since 2016.

"It's good competition, and that's the big thing for me," Jansen said. "I love to go out and have teams that we play point for point with. It makes us a better team. Class 1 right now is a very hard class to be in. We're going up against the best."

Semifinal matches take place Wednesday, Sept. 4, at both 5 and 6:30 p.m., while consolation bracket semifinal matches occur Thursday, Sept. 5, at 5 and 6:30 p.m. The championship match will be preceded by a consolation game at 4:30 p.m. and the third-place match at 6 p.m.