Tournament Format
2010 Willamette Volleyball Classic will be divided into four age divisions - 12s, 14s, 16s, 18s.
For the 14s, 16s, and 18s, each division will be seeded by a seeding committee. The top 18 seeds will be split into 6 pools of 3, and this will be Power Pool #1. The next 18 seeds will be split into 6 pools of 3, and this will be Power Pool #2. This same process will happen until each team is in a power pool.
Pool play will happen in four waves on Saturday, two in the morning and two in the afternoon. Pools will consist of 3 teams, with each team playing each other in the pool. Teams will be reseeded after their initial pools by a process where if a team finishes above a higher-seeded team in that pool, they will assume the higher seed. Teams will play in one morning wave and one afternoon wave (4 matches total - 2 per wave).
Example Team A is seeded 5th, Team B is seeded 10th, Team C is seeded 15th. In pool play, Team A finishes 1-1, Team B finishes 2-0, Team C finishes 0-2. Based on those results, Team B would now be seeded 5th, Team A would now be seeded 10th, and Team C would remain seeded 15th.
In the morning wave of pool play, teams that win their pools who are in Power Pools #2 or below, will automatically join Power Pool #1 or whatever pool is above them. Teams who finish in third place out of their pools will be relegated to the power pool below them. This same process will happen with the afternoon pool play matches.
All pool play matches are played in a best 2-of-3 format. The first two sets are played to 25 points, no cap, win by 2. The third set, if necessary, is played to 15 points, no cap, win by two.
In pool play, the top seed will play the lowest seed in the first match. The lowest two seeds will play second, and the top two seeds will play third. So - in the example above with the 5th, 10th, and 15th seeds in the same pool, the playing order would be 5 v 15, followed by 10 v 15, with 5 v 10 playing last. The team that is off will be a refereeing team.
Sunday will be exclusively bracket play. No challenge matches will happen in 2010. Teams will be split into groups of six based on their final seeds from Saturday's pool play results. The top two seeds in each bracket will receive a bye, while seeds 3 and 6 play each other, and seeds 4 and 5 play each other in the first round. The two losing teams of those matches will play each other in a consolation match. The two winning teams will go on to play the two highest seeds, with the winners of those matches playing for the bracket championship.
In the 12s division, the top 6 seeds will play in a bracket, while seeds 7-9 play in a round-robin pool structure.
All bracket play matches are played in the same 2-of-3 format as the pool play matches. The ONE EXCEPTION to that is the consolation match in each bracket (the match between the two first-round losing teams), which will be ONE SET to 25 points.
