For Dickinson High volleyball coach Jay Schobinger, the hard part of the Dickinson Invitational is over.
Planning and organizing the tournament is quite the chore, but coaching it is quite simple in the days leading up to the opening serve.
"This nice part is you really don't prepare," Schobinger said. "You go in and adjust and adapt to every team you play. You have to do that during a match which is really good for the kids. They have to figure things out on the fly."
The 2007 edition of the Dickinson Invitational starts Friday with pool play and will include 30 teams from the Dakotas and Montana.
Games, pitting teams from all different classes, will be played on eight different courts located at Dickinson High School, Trinity High School and the West River Community Center.
ADVERTISEMENT
Pools A, B and C, featuring Dickinson High, New England, Beulah and Hazen, will play Friday at DHS. Pools D, E and F, which includes the Titans and Hettinger, compete at Trinity's Knights of Columbus Activities Center. Action begins at 2 p.m. at both schools.
The West River Community Center will host Pools G and H, which include the Midgets' conference rivals Bismarck High and Mandan. Action there begins at 3:15 p.m.
"It's hard to put expectations on it," Schobinger said. "A lot of the teams you see, you've never played against. You have never seen them during the year."
All of Friday's matches are played to three games while Saturday's matches are a best 2-out-of-3 format. All games are played to 25 points.
With so many teams from different states and different classes, Schobinger said it's a roll of the dice when it comes to picking a favorite.
"Pool play on Friday is hit and miss but with tournament play Saturday, everybody should be matched up with pretty comparable teams," Schobinger said.
Team will be divided up into three divisions following Friday's pool play. The eight No. 1 seeds and top four No. 2 seeds will advance to the Gold Tournament at DHS. The remaining No. 2 seeds and top six No. 3 seeds play in the silver tournament at Trinity. The West River Community Center will host the remaining teams. All of Saturday's action begins at 10 a.m.
To advance, the Midgets must get by Tioga, Hardin (Mont.) and New England. The Tigers open against Tioga at 2 p.m. while the Midgets face Hardin at 3:15 p.m.
ADVERTISEMENT
Schobinger said for his Midgets, this tournament is all about taking care of the little things like consistency.
"Right now we have a tendency to give up some big runs," Schobinger said. "(Tuesday against Bismarck Century) we gave up an 11-point run in one game and a seven-point run in another. Against Minot, we did the same thing."
The Titans will compete in Pool D Friday, opening play at 3:15 p.m. against Billings Skyview. Joining Skyview and Trinity in Pool D includes Douglas High School (S.D.) and Poplar (Mont.).
Beulah competes in Pool B with Glendive (Mont.), Stanley and Fargo South. Hettinger is in Pool F with Minot High, Watford City and Miles City (Mont.).
Each team will play at least five games this weekend so plenty of players will get a chance to see the court, Schobinger said.
"A lot of years someone comes in and surprises you by doing a nice job," he said.
