Like many other volleyball coaches, Cinco Ranch’s Tammy Laurence is loathe to miss Pearland’s gigantic Labor Day weekend classic, known this year as the 2008 Nike Volleyball Classic.

So she never has.

The Cougars have competed in the event all eight years of their existence, and for most of that time they’ve been among the region’s elite. A roster full of relatively inexperienced varsity players has guided Cinco to a 11-5 record through Tuesday night’s loss at Cy-Fair, and this weekend the Cougars will get a stiff test in what has become the largest prep tournament in the country.

“If you’re over there you’re going to get a lot of good competition and you’re guaranteed to play a lot of matches,” Laurence said. “For years we’ve gone there. You’re normally going to have a big field, but this year it’s huge (76 teams). It’s good and competitive.”

The field has grown from 24 teams in 1998 to 76 this year, necessitating that the field be split into 19 divisions of four teams each. Prior to this year, a bracket was set up for all teams who played until they were eliminated.

Defending 5A state champion Amarillo will be there, as will semifinalists Cy-Fair and Austin Westlake. All the rest of last year’s regional tournament field – Cinco, Clear Creek and Fort Bend Dulles – will be present, as will Memorial, Stratford, Bellaire, Katy, Fort Bend Elkins and 4A state semifinalist Friendswood among others.

The entire field is listed below. More information is available here.

Division play takes place all day Thursday at Pearland High School, Pearland Junior High School East and Pearland Junior High School South. The first- and second-place teams from each division go to Gold Bracket play beginning Friday; the third- and fourth-place teams go to the Silver Bracket.

The Silver Bracket championship is at 3 p.m. Saturday at Pearland High School, followed by the Gold Bracket final at approximately 4:15.

“It’s kind of interesting because you know there are going to be a lot of good teams there but the majority of them we’ve never seen so we don’t know what they’re like,” Elkins coach Keith Johnson said. “We’re a little blind and so are they; they don’t know what we’re like either. It’s gonna be fun. Seventy-plus teams out there, state champions … we’re in a good pool and I think we’ll do OK.

“I’m excited about it.”

2008 Nike Volleyball Classic pools
Division 1: Clear Springs, Austin Westlake, Alamo Heights, Living Stone
Division 2: Cypress Creek, Fort Bend Dulles, San Antonio Reagan, Hockaday
Division 3: Morton Ranch, Amarillo, Corpus Christi Carroll, Keller Central
Division 4: Dobie, Tomball, A&M Consolidated, San Antonio Churchill
Division 5: Dekaney, Fort Bend Elkins, Arlington, San Antonio Warren
Division 6: Clear Creek, Friendswood, Mayde Creek, Round Rock Stony Point
Division 7: Arlington Martin, Clear Lake, Klein Collins, St. Agnes
Division 8: Jersey Village, Katy Taylor, Round Rock Westwood, Sasche
Division 9: Cy-Fair, Baytown Lee, Hutto, San Antonio O’Connor
Division 10: Pearland, Alvin, New Braunfels, Richland
Division 11: Clear Brook, Cypress Woods, Grapevine, Smithson Valley
Division 12: Stratford, Atascocita, Fort Bend Bush, Lake Highlands
Division 13: Memorial, Pearland Dawson, Highland Park, Montgomery
Division 14: Austin Bowie, Baytown Sterling, Fort Bend Clements, Kingwood
Division 15: Bellaire, Seven Lakes, Magnolia, Round Rock
Division 16: Cinco Ranch, Spring, Channelview, Flower Mound Marcus
Division 17: Fort Bend Travis, Langham Creek, Pasadena Memorial, San Antonio Clark
Division 18: Fort Bend Austin, Spring Woods, Brenham, Hebron
Division 19: Katy, Deer Park, Caldwell, Midlothian

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