By By SCOTT NOVAK / Dowagiac Daily News
Volleyball season will open for a pair of area schools on Saturday as they take part in the Gull Lake Blue Devil Invitational.
Dowagiac and Niles will travel to Richland to take part in the Gull Lake tournament.
Saturday is of course the first time volleyball has been played in the fall in the state of Michigan.
Niles will play in Bracket A along with Battle Creek Lakeview, Delton and Allegan. Dowagiac will play in Bracket D with Novi, Lakeshore and Paw Paw.
Bracket B will consist of Loy Norrix, Gull Lake, Homer and Comstock. Bracket C will be made up of Portage Northern, Vicksburg, Marshall and South Haven.
Bracket play will begin at 8 a.m. with the first of four matches.
In the first match, Niles will face Delton, while Dowagiac will take on Lakeshore. In the second match at 8:45 a.m., Lakeview and Allegan will play in Bracket A and Novi and Paw Paw will play in Bracket D.
The losers of the first two matches will play at 9:30 a.m., while the winners of the first two matches will play at 10:15 a.m.
The first two games of bracket play will consist of rally scoring to 25 points with a cap at 27. The third game, if necessary, will be to 15 points with a cap at 17.
The second round will be seeded into brackets.
The Blue Bracket will consist of the first place team from Bracket A, the second place team from Bracket B, the third place team from Bracket D and the fourth place team from Bracket C.
The White Bracket will be made up of the first place team from Bracket B, the second place team from Bracket C, the third place team from Bracket A and the fourth place team from Bracket D.
The Gold Bracket will consist of the first place team from Bracket C, the second place team from Bracket D, the third place team from Bracket B and the fourth place team from Bracket A.
The Gray Bracket will be made up of the first place team from Bracket D, the second place team from Bracket A, the third place team from Bracket C and the fourth place team from Bracket B.
Seeding Bracket play is set to begin at 11:30 a.m. The second match will be at 12:30 p.m. with the final two matches set for 1:30 and 2:30 p.m.
Seeding Bracket play will use the same scoring used in the first round.
The single elimination portion of the tournament will begin immediately following the completion of the second round.
All games will use rally scoring, with the first two games to 25 and the third game to 15. There will be no caps on scoring for any of the three games.
All first and second place teams will advance to the Gold Bracket, while all third and fourth place teams will advance to the Silver Bracket.