High School Volleyball Forum: 2014 Dig for Life Challenge Pool Play Assignments

Replies (24)

• Any predictions for final 4?

  -- Posted by vballmom5 on Sun, Sep 7, 2014, at 9:17 PM
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  Vballmom5,I will take a stab at it but don't know who would have to face who after pool play.Dexter,Park hills central,Notre dame,Leopold!I will pick Park hills central to win it all!

  -- Posted by porchswing on Sun, Sep 7, 2014, at 9:24 PM

• Why isn't Perryville or St. Pius X in this tournament?

  -- Posted by Preacher Man Fan on Sun, Sep 7, 2014, at 9:58 PM

• Dexter is solid and will be hard to beat.

  -- Posted by cardinalnation on Sun, Sep 7, 2014, at 10:02 PM

• I agree Dexter might be the team to beat. Ill get my bracket out and take a stab at predictions tomorrow.

  -- Posted by vballmom5 on Mon, Sep 8, 2014, at 7:10 PM

• Perryville dropped out of the tournament year before last (2012-2013 season was their last time in it). They dropped out and got into the Oakville Tournament instead because they wanted to play a bigger (and tougher) variety of teams from the St. Louis area. Can't say I blame them. The Dig for Life Challenge, while incredibly big (48 teams), usually doesn't hold many surprises as it's usually always the same teams that advance to Gold Bracket and go far: Notre Dame, Dexter, Bernie, Leopold, Park Hills Central, Bismarck, Lesterville, just to name a few. In fact, that's why they do the pool assignments the way they do: they intentionally put one strong team, one mediocre team, and one terrible team in each pool. I can understand that in that they are trying to even the playing field, but for the teams that usually always advance to Gold, pool play is just an easy way for them to go home with two more wins. Not bashing on the tournament at all because I always look forward to it, but just giving some perspective as to why Perryville dropped out.

  St. Pius X is in the Tournament of Champions at St. Joseph's Academy in St. Louis. Teams are only allowed to play in three tournaments each season per MSHSAA, excluding the playoffs. The Volleyball Fest was St. Pius's second tournament, so they probably wanted to be in a tournament that was a) closer to home, b) farther into the season, and c) more competitive.

  -- Posted by The Legend on Tue, Sep 9, 2014, at 4:39 AM

• Thanks for the info, Legend. Volleyball is a sport I'm trying to become more educated about. I knew Perryville and St. Pius were two of the strongest teams in our area, so it seemed odd to me that they weren't in such a big local tournament.

  -- Posted by Preacher Man Fan on Tue, Sep 9, 2014, at 10:08 AM
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  The Legend i agree with you on the tournament it has very few surprises.IMO the reason for the same teams advancing is the coaching some definitly seem to always have decent to good teams and others don't!PMF if you start watching this game it is addictive very fun to watch especially when the games are close.Good luck to all this weekend!

  -- Posted by porchswing on Tue, Sep 9, 2014, at 10:55 AM

• The top 1/2 of the brackets a given. It'll come down to ND and Dexter. That bottom half could be anyone's game but I'd pick Leopold or Park Hills to match up in the final 8 and that last bracket could be anybody Woodland, Advance, Seckman or Bismark (although I'm not sure how Seckman or Bismark look this year)

  -- Posted by vballmom5 on Wed, Sep 10, 2014, at 6:26 AM
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  Vballmom5,Bismarck pretty good again!

  -- Posted by porchswing on Wed, Sep 10, 2014, at 8:52 AM

• Here are my picks:

  Pool A Winner: Dexter

  Pool B Winner: Park Hills Central

  Pool C Winner: New Haven

  Pool D Winner: Poplar Bluff

  Pool E Winner: Bismarck

  Pool F Winner: Notre Dame

  Pool G Winner: Clearwater

  Pool H Winner: Leopold

  Pool I Winner: St. Vincent

  Pool J Winner: Bernie

  Pool K Winner: Lesterville

  Pool L Winner: Jackson

  Pool M Winner: Woodland

  Pool N Winner: Jefferson

  Pool O Winner: Saxony Lutheran

  Pool P Winner: Eminence

  ___________________

  Fina Four Picks:

  Dexter

  New Haven

  Park Hills Central

  Bismarck

  -- Posted by Dustin Ward on Wed, Sep 10, 2014, at 3:44 PM

• New Haven is undefeated. They have two six-foot seniors, a five-ten senior and a five-eleven junior.

  -- Posted by Dustin Ward on Wed, Sep 10, 2014, at 3:54 PM

• Bismarck is currently 4-0 with wins over DeSoto, Crystal City, Potosi, and Meadow Heights. Their first loss may come tomorrow when the Lady Indians play North County. Not sure how strong Bismarck is this season after losing their star player Darcy Latham, but Paula AuBuchon is a great coach and has built a wonderful volleyball program at Bismarck. Don't discount the Lady Indians!

  Here are my predictions for each bracket:

  *GOLD: Dexter, Park Hills Central, New Haven, Poplar Bluff, Bismarck, Notre Dame, Clearwater, Leopold, St. Vincent, Bernie, Lesterville, Seckman, Woodland, Jefferson, Saxony Lutheran, Eminence

  *SILVER: Cooter, South Iron, Kennett, Advance, South Pemiscot, Meadow Heights, Cape Central, Bloomfield, Oak Ridge, Greenville, Gideon, Jackson, Puxico, Sikeston, Malden, Portageville

  *BRONZE: Holcomb, Twin Rivers, Caruthersville, Bell City, Calvary Lutheran, Zalma, Clarkton, Richland, Southland, Campbell, New Madrid County Central, Scott City, Southern Reynolds, Senath-Hornersville, Oran, Marquand-Zion

  If my predictions hold true in the Sweet 16 Gold Bracket it should be:

  *Dexter vs. Eminence

  *St. Vincent vs. Lesterville

  *New Haven vs. Notre Dame

  *Clearwater vs. Jefferson

  *Park Hills Central vs. Saxony Lutheran

  *Leopold vs. Bernie

  *Woodland vs. Seckman

  *Poplar Bluff vs. Bismarck

  Of those, I think the Elite Eight will be:

  *Dexter vs. St. Vincent

  *Notre Dame vs. Jefferson

  *Park Hills Central vs. Leopold

  *Seckman vs. Bismarck

  My Final Four:

  *Dexter, Notre Dame, Park Hills Central, Bismarck

  I think it'll come down to Dexter vs. Park Hills Central for the championship, which would be a rematch since they play each other in pool play. Sure am looking forward to this tournament! Keep up the volleyball discussion! Let's keep this thread going so that we can silence all the Heartland Football Friday hullabaloo.

  -- Posted by The Legend on Wed, Sep 10, 2014, at 11:57 PM

• My game plan is to go 48 hours straight with no sleep by covering the Dexter-Sikeston football game Friday night, writing the story after the game and showing up at the volleyball Saturday. Fun times.

  -- Posted by Dustin Ward on Thu, Sep 11, 2014, at 12:16 AM

• During one of the greatest football seasons in the history of the region and with a local contender threatening to win it all for the first time in school history at the 48-team volleyball tournament no sleep for two days seems like the right move.

  I'm glad I'm young enough to still have the stamina to appreciate fun times.

  -- Posted by Dustin Ward on Thu, Sep 11, 2014, at 12:24 AM

• Legend

  Elaborate on your thought on Notre Dame vs. New Haven?

  -- Posted by Dustin Ward on Thu, Sep 11, 2014, at 12:27 AM

• Legend

  My toughest final four pick was Bismarck. But I know you know your stuff.

  -- Posted by Dustin Ward on Thu, Sep 11, 2014, at 1:11 AM

• Dustin, I'm actually a little unsure of most of my predictions (I just went with gut instincts). I think this is one of the more balanced seasons in which it's not so cut and dried. I would not be surprised if Advance beats Poplar Bluff for the right to go to Gold in Pool D. The reason for this is that Poplar Bluff has already lost to Jackson, which gave the Indians their first (and only) win of the season until their victory over Cape Central a couple nights ago. My Pool K predictions are a little fuzzy as well. I think Lesterville is the favorite, but I can see Gideon taking first in this pool as well. Lesterville seems to be enduring a rebuilding season after losing their two big middles, but the Lady Bearcats are still an above par team even in their rebuilding seasons. Gideon dominates in the Bootheel but then they play the northern teams and get demolished, so I'm not sure. Having said what I did about Jackson earlier, I can possibly see them advancing to gold over Seckman. Seckman tends to usually be full of tall girls (they are a St. Louis area team, after all) but they should be better than what they are, and I could see a potential upset in this pool by the Lady Indians if they play their cards right. Pool M and N are probably the weakest pools in this tournament overall, in my opinion. Woodland and Jefferson should have no problems here. I also hold reservations about Pool P. My friends in the Ozarks have informed me that Eminence is not that great this year, and Portageville is currently undefeated (but then again, that is to all Bootheel teams, so take that with a grain of salt). I think Eminence is the slight favorite in this pool because they do play tougher teams than Portageville, but I watched Portageville play last year and the year before that and they are definitely improving.

  As per New Haven/Notre Dame, I was torn but went with Notre Dame simply because they are the two-time defending champions and it's familiar territory for them. New Haven could most certainly beat them and yes the Lady Shamrocks are undefeated, but with the exception of Father Tolton, the teams they have beaten are not that strong. Looking at their schedule, it looks as though the toughest teams they play are St. Francis Borgia, Hermann, Pacific, and Fatima. Now, if New Haven had defeated all of these teams already, I would most definitely have placed them ahead of Notre Dame. Having said that, volleyball is a mental game as you know and there can (and most certainly will) be plenty of surprises in this tournament.

  -- Posted by The Legend on Thu, Sep 11, 2014, at 5:39 AM

• New Haven had those same 6 footers last year & Leopold dominated them.Plus hieght is useless unless you know how to use it & as for New Haven they have the hieght, butvdo they have the talent.Now I'm a bit bias, but Leopold even after losing two key players hve picked up where they left off from a 2nd place finish in State. Park Hills will be strong as will Dexter & Bismark may surprise everyone except those who have seen them play. Then you have Notre Dame who lost key players & they seem to be moving right along. As mentioned earlier this game is as much mental as it is physical & a team that my not be the best or should win can very well be the best team on that day. So nothing is garunteed but as in most sports the best should win till it gets to the Elite 8 & Final 4 where then anything can happen. I wish all the teams good luck, but hope a regional team wins it all.

  -- Posted by MissouriMule 1 on Thu, Sep 11, 2014, at 10:18 PM
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  Dustin,I know you are a highly dedicated profesional but sleep is a good thing!Thanks legend for your thoughts on the tourney always appreciate your post.

  -- Posted by porchswing on Fri, Sep 12, 2014, at 10:33 AM

• DW, one of the greatest football seasons in the history of the region? Please elaborate.

  -- Posted by cirithungol17 on Fri, Sep 12, 2014, at 11:47 AM

• More close games this season than most years cirithungol17. That makes it one of the greatest football seasons ever. I like close games.

  -- Posted by Dustin Ward on Fri, Sep 12, 2014, at 1:21 PM

• Alriteythen!!

  -- Posted by cirithungol17 on Fri, Sep 12, 2014, at 3:51 PM

• Is there a place to get updates?

  -- Posted by volleballfan on Fri, Sep 12, 2014, at 9:20 PM