Playing extremely talented foes in October will pay off in November.
That’s what Dawn Hanson is counting on anyway.
Hanson, head volleyball coach at Monroe High School, wanted to make the sixth annual Bearcat-Viking Crossover — also known as the Bearcat Invite — more challenging than ever for her Bearcats. So instead of just accepting any team that wanted to play, Hanson only sent invitations to programs that advanced to the 2006 Class 3A and 4A state tournaments.
Hanson hopes the talent-packed invite, which the Bearcats host Saturday at the Monroe High gym, will help prepare her team for a run next month at its third consecutive 4A state tourney appearance.
The 12-team Bearcat Invite starts with pool play and progresses to a modified double-elimination tournament. The top eight teams in pool play advance to the “Gold” championship bracket.
Here are the opening four-team pools.
Pool 1: Monroe, Kentwood, Camas and Issaquah.
Pool 2: Kamiak, Bainbridge, Central Kitsap and Lake Stevens.
Pool 3: Marysville-Pilchuck, Enumclaw, Bellarmine Prep and Everett.
Lake Stevens is the only participating team that didn’t reach the state tourney last season. The Vikings have always been part of the event because it was created by former Lake Stevens coach Lori Barlow, a friend of Hanson’s.
The invite took shape when Hanson and Barlow “wanted to do something local for tournaments, so we decided to start our own and the deal was that each of us would host a tournament and we agreed to ‘cross over’ and make sure we played in each other’s tournaments every year,” said Hanson, who coaches Monroe but teaches at Lake Stevens.
Since 2004 Monroe has hosted the varsity tourney and the freshman tourney has been at Lake Stevens. Last year Everett defeated Monroe for the varsity invite title.
Players who hope to do well at the Bearcat Invite better get to bed early Friday night. Matches begin at 8:30 a.m. Saturday.
STATE VOLLEYBALL RANKINGS
Hungry for more volleyball news? Here are the latest state coaches’ rankings. (Records through Oct. 8)
Class 4A
1. Mead (Spokane) 8-0
2. Kentwood 10-0
3. Kamiak (Mukilteo) 7-1
4. Eisenhower (Yakima) 10-1
5. Skyview (Vancouver) 8-0
6. Monroe 7-1
7. Rogers (Puyallup) 8-1
8. Bothell 8-1
9. Shadle Park (Spokane) 7-1
Tie-10. Lewis &Clark (Spokane) 8-2, and Marysville-Pilchuck 6-2
Class 3A
1. Bishop Blanchet (Seattle) 10-0
2. Kamiakin (Kennewick) 10-0
3. Auburn Riverside 9-0
4. Mercer Island 10-0
5. Newport (Bellevue) 10-1
6. Kennedy (Burien) 9-0
7. Skyline (Sammamish) 7-3
8. Hanford (Richland) 9-2
9. Sumner 7-2
10. Camas 7-1
Class 2A
1. Selah 9-0
2. Grandview 9-0
3. Burlington-Edison 9-0
4. Lynden 8-0
5. Tumwater 8-0
6. North Mason (Belfair) 7-1
7. Colville 6-1
8. Pullman 7-1
9. Archbishop Murphy (Mill Creek) 7-1
10. Mark Morris (Longview) 7-0
Class 1A
1. Colfax 11-0
2. King’s (Shoreline) 8-0
3. Lynden Christian 4-5
4. Lakeside (Nine Mile Falls) 9-1
5. Chelan 9-0
6. River View (Kennewick) 7-1
7. Meridian 5-3
8. Stevenson 6-1
9. Cascade Christian (Puyallup) 8-0
10. Connell 6-2
Class 2B
1. La Conner 8-1
2. Wilbur-Creston 10-0
3. Adna 7-0
4. Manson 6-0
5. DeSales (Walla Walla) 6-0
6. LaSalle (Union Gap) 6-0
7. Darrington 7-2
8. Riverside Christian (Yakima) 6-0
9. King’s West (Bremerton) 8-0
10. Wahkiakum (Cathlamet) 6-1
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