2022 Tournament Preview (Week 1)

Not all of the schedules are published but I like to look at the tournaments held in the first weeks to see where our schools are playing and whether any are competing against good out-of-region teams. One thing to note is that the season starts on September 1^st but that day falls on a Thursday. This means some tournaments will play on Thursday since teams that don’t play on that day, lose a day of preseason practice.

By my count there are 36 teams in Region X this season but we also include UC Santa Cruz when we do these articles. They will probably be in Region VI because they play in the C2C Conference, which is based in that region. Right now, I’ve accounted for every team except for Caltech. Last season, Caltech played an NAIA schedule for the first couple of weeks and really just concentrated on conference play following those matches. I’m assuming they are doing something similar this season.

Let’s take a look at the remaining 36 and see where they are playing and what competition they will encounter.

AC & Dallas Tournament (Host Austin College & Dallas)

Austin College, Belhaven, Champion Baptist, Dallas, McMurry, Pacific, Paul Quinn and Regis.

This looks like an annual tournament now. It was more of an ASC/SCAC Tournament last season but we have more of a mix this year. We have two non-DIII programs mixed in with a Region VI team (I think) in Belhaven. I’m assuming Belhaven will be moved to Region VI with their change in conference this season. We have Regis, which is a Region I team so my love to them for making the trip. We also have two SCAC teams, one ASC team and one NWC team. Regis is going to be your best out-of-region team (I don’t factor in non-DIII teams). They were 23-8 last year so a nice test for the Region X teams. I really like the competition in this tournament between Austin, McMurry and Pacific as they should be well matched. If Dallas can bounce back a bit from last year, then playing at home could also move them into this group and make all of the matches close. This looks like a 3-day tournament as Austin College plays two matches each day for a very rare 6-match weekend. Dallas, Pacific and McMurry are only playing two days and get 4 matches.

Captains Classic (Host Chris Newport)

Chris Newport, Hollins, Lewis & Clark and UW-Oshkosh

A fine test for Lewis & Clark with two extremely difficult opponents in Chris Newport and Oshkosh (who I have in my preseason Top 25). The Pios are coming off a down year, lose a lot of statistics and will have a new coach so no telling what they will do starting out. Hollins went 4-18 last season so Lewis & Clark should expect to do well in that match. Still, this is about challenging yourself, which the Pios are doing and I’d love to see an upset.

Gargoyle Classic (Host University of Chicago)

Aurora, Chicago, St. Olaf, UW-La Crosse and Whitworth

Love seeing Whitworth make this trip and it should be a great tournament. I have three of these teams in my preseason Top 25 (including Whitworth) so I expect Aurora and Chicago to be really tough opponents for the Pirates. With that said, you certainly can’t sleep on St. Olaf or UW-La Crosse. St. Olaf finished 14-13 last season but are always a good program and La Crosse went 20-11. I don’t like that Whitworth will get their two toughest matches right out of the gate so they have to be ready to go and jump on these teams. Then, if they have success, they can’t have a letdown the following day. My relatively high ranking of Whitworth will be severely tested in this tournament.

Mary Hardin-Baylor (Host UMHB)

Centenary, Hendrix, Howard Payne, Mary Hardin-Baylor and Schreiner

UMHB and Hendrix are the class of this tournament held in Belton although Hendrix was only 13-13 last season. You would think UMHB will have an easy time of it. The other teams are all pretty close so there should be some good matches.

Labor Day Weekend Tournament (Host St Thomas)

ETBU, LeTourneau, Neumann, Rose-Hulman, St Thomas, TLU, Widener and Willamette

TLU is actually playing in two tournaments this weekend as you’ll see them again in the Trinity Tournament where they play on Thursday. They play in this tournament on Friday and Saturday. I like the mix of teams in this one as I think they are all pretty close to each other. Neumann was 13-18 last season, Rose-Hulman was 11-16 and Widener was 19-10. The Region X teams were all upper middle of their conferences so I think each team will probably think they should come out of this one undefeated. Unless someone changes how volleyball scores matches, that’s not going to happen.

Pacific Coast Classic (Hosts CMS, La Verne and Pomona-Pitzer)

Babson, Cal Lutheran, Chapman, CMS, La Verne, Linfield, Millikin, New England College, NYU, Occidental, Pomona-Pitzer, Redlands, St. Scholastica, Sul Ross State, UC Santa Cruz, Whitman and Whittier.

Is this the biggest tournament during week one in terms of the number of teams? We have 8 of the 9 SCIAC teams in this one. We also have two NWC teams and one team from the ASC. To make this all work, you need out-of-region teams and they have some really good ones in this one. Both Babson and NYU are teams in my preseason Top 25 and Millikin just missed out. It’s obvious all of the teams can’t play each other so the schedules can be vastly different and the tournament does a good job of matching opponents. CMS (#1 in the SCIAC last season) draws maybe the four best teams outside of the SCIAC in Babson, UC Santa Cruz, Millikin and NYU. Meanwhile Redlands (finished last) draw St. Scholastica, Sul Ross State, Linfield and UC Santa Cruz. A good mix to test the squad as they try to rebound. New England College went 19-7 last season while St. Scholastica went 4-13 so opposite ends of the spectrum there. This is always a good one and it’s really vital for the SCIAC teams to draw in opponents to reduce their travel.

Pikes Peak Challenge (Host Colorado College)

Colorado College, Hardin-Simmons, John Carroll, Lawrence and UW-Superior

This is part of the standard operational scheduling philosophy by the Tigers. Get teams to Colorado Springs, starve them of oxygen and roll the ball out on the court. The Tigers are the class of this group but they did lose a couple of stellar players so maybe they’ll be a little vulnerable here. HSU went 8-11 last season but did beat UT-Dallas twice. They could have some fun in this one. John Carroll (14-16 in 2021) is out of Region VII and Lawrence (5-18) and UW-Superior (12-17) are out of Region IX. Obviously, Colorado College should expect to win out in this one but how HSU finishes should give us some insight on how their season should go.

Puget Sound Premiere (Host Puget Sound)

Benedictine, Pacific Lutheran, Puget Sound and Salve Regina

This is an underrated annual tournament that always gives you two really good opponents in PLU and UPS. This year they draw in Benedictine (17-12) out of Region VIII and Salve Regina (15-10) out of Region II. So, four opponents that should be pretty evenly matched although I’d give the edge to PLU. This tournament also features PLU and UPS playing in an out-of-conference match where the Loggers are always tough on their home court.

Southwestern Tournament (Hosts Concordia and Southwestern)

Augsburg, Concordia, George Fox, Southwestern and UT-Dallas

Only one out-of-region team in Augsburg (15-13) but they are a quality program. We’ve also got one of the top teams out of the SCAC and the ASC and then George Fox and  Concordia who should be really good this year. I just added a DI/DII transfer in the Super Senior article for Concordia. It looks like Concordia only gets two matches in this one with Southwestern and UTD getting three matches. The other two teams get four matches. I like George Fox this season but this is going to be some tough competition.

Trinity Invite (Host Trinity)

Berry, Edgewood, TLU, Transylvania, Trinity, UW-Eau Claire and UW-Stout

Trinity doesn’t have issues getting teams to their tournaments and they are putting together another good one in this one. You can’t go wrong with the defending national champions. Altogether, there are four teams in my preseason Top 25. Based on my rankings, Berry is the class in this group but Transylvania is going to be really good and that’s before I mention Eau Claire and Trinity. Edgewood was 17-11 last season so you can’t overlook them while UW-Stout came in at 14-13. Trinity at home is going to be tough even though I think they could struggle early in the season. Bottom line, one of the best tournaments in the region and we should know a lot more about both Trinity and Eau Claire when it’s done.

At this point, I think the question on everyone’s mind is where will I be that first weekend. That’s a tough one. Southwestern is my love so my first choice and I’d have to say I’ve got a good chance at convincing the wife. The Trinity Tournament has an outside chance but I don’t see myself driving past Georgetown (Southwestern) to get to San Antonio. Still, it would be cool to see Eau Claire and what a revamped Trinity looks like. Not to mention, I am an honorary Berry Viking so I’m sure the team would present a number of gifts to me. The third option is the Pacific Coast Classic. My niece who lives in California has a birthday that weekend so this tournament is always a possibility. It would be so hectic as I would really try to see all of the SCIAC teams while also trying to watch Babson and NYU. The final option is the stay at home one where I take the short drive over to Dallas and watch some matches there. I mean Pacific has promised I can sit on the bench and coach. It would be a shame to have players miss out on, “Hey setter! Set the ball!” and “You! Yeah, you! Don’t do that again!” All I know is that I will be somewhere and my hope is that you will, too. Getting close!