Nike Tournament of Champions VB, 60 teams invade E. Valley

October 19, 2011 by Les Willsey, AZPreps365


Sixty teams from Arizona, California and several other states compete Friday and Saturday (Oct. 21 and Oct. 22) in the annual Nike Tournament of Champions Volleyball Tournament.

The teams will compete in 15 pools of four  schools each with matches beginning Friday morning at 10 a.m. at Court I in Tempe and Hamilton and Perry high schools. Matches will continue through Friday at 6 p.m.. A trio of pool games Friday will determine which bracket teams advance to for Saturday's play. Teams will play as many as six matches (three each day). The top two brackets are the Platinum and Gold, which house  the top 32 teams entered. Saturday's bracket play also begins at 10 a.m. with championship matches for each bracket  staggered throughout the afternoon. The Platinum championship game is set for 6 p.m.

Teams entered that are eligible to advance to the Platinum and Gold brackets are: Arizona entries --  Corona del Sol, Mountain Pointe, Basha, Highland, Sunnyslope, Seton Catholic, Gilbert and Hamilton; Out of state entries -- Cathedral Catholic, (San Diego, Calif); Marist High (Chicago, Ill.); St. Joseph's Academy (St. Louis, Mo.);  The Bishop's School, (La Jolla, Calif.);  Clovis West (Fresno, Calif.); Valencia High (Valencia, Calif.); South Anchorage, Alaska and Ralston Valley High, (Arvada, Colo).

Other Arizona teams competing are: Arcadia, Betty Fairfax, Blue Ridge, Boulder Creek, Centennial, Chandler, Deer Valley, Desert Mountain, Dobson, Flagstaff, Florence, Mesa, Mesquite, Millennium, Mesa Mountain View, Northwest Christian, Red Mountain, Sabino, Sandra Day O'Connor, Show Low, Sunrise Mountain, Tempe Prep, Valley Christian and Valley Lutheran.

Venue addresses are: Court One, 9100 S. McKemy Street, Tempe; Hamilton High, 3700 S. Arizona Avenue, Chandler and Perry High, 1919 E. Queen Creek Road, Gilbert.

For additiional information on sites, pools and brackets go to www.niketournamentofchampions.com.