[PHSForever]

Hosted by Pikeville High School, the inaugral Champions of the Mountain Classic looks to be a doozy! Here is a list of the schools scheduled to participate (I don't have an actual bracket right now):

Pikeville High School
East Carter
East Ridge
Ashland Blazer
Russell
South Floyd
Letcher County Central
Hazard
Johnson Central

I think I'm leaving one school out, but can't think who it is. Anyway, should be some good volleyball this weekend, come on over and check it out!

[Iredata90]

See you there!

[BBN4EVER]

Well, East Ridge won the thing! They played great throughout the whole tournament and won all five games! I'll tell you what, though... Pikeville is down right scary. They're the only team other than Allen Central to take a set from ER so far this season. A friend of mine had talked to a Pikeville fan and told me that they were actually playing without one of their better players, then you look at that roster and see only one junior and the rest are sophomores and younger?! Where did this team come from? They were nowhere near that good last season. Thrilled that East Ridge won this awesome tournament, but not really looking forward to playing Pikeville again! On a side note, I think this weekend was absolute proof that the 15th region is far superior to the 16th in volleyball! Neither Russell nor Ashland looked very strong, and East Carter was easily the worst team in it. And not only that, but Allen Central and Betsy Layne weren't even in it, two teams that make our region even stronger. I really feel that volleyball is headed in the right direction in this region (from more than half of the schools, at least) and this tournament hosted by Pikeville is a GREAT way to further grow volleyball for this area.

[PHSForever]

Thank you. Glad it was enjoyed. I have to bring something up about East Carter though. In talking with someone from their staff, I found out they were missing a total of 4 players with injuries, one of who is out for the year. Betsy Layne and Allen Central had other commitments, they played in Lexington in a tournament. But I agree, the 15th is far better this year than the 16th at this point in time.

The players you are seeing on the floor for Pikeville right now, with the exception of a couple, were the JV team last year. That same JV team that is undefeated still, and was undefeated last year as well. Those young ladies bought in to the conditioning program, going to camps, etc to make themselves even better, and it is paying off.

I think the ER-Pikeville rivalry is going to be a doozy as the year wears on and each team gets even better. Looking forward to seeing many of our local teams at the All A Tournament at Pikeville High School this year, it will be a battle!

[Ladycats13]

Looking forward to the Pikeville/East Ridge rematch :0