Revamped Millard North Invitational Could Be State’s Best Tournament
OMAHA – It wasn’t all that long ago that Millard North coach Lindsay Peterson remembers playing in the Millard North Invitational, which was traditionally on Halloween weekend when it used to be one of the biggest and most competitive tournaments…
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Continue ReadingOMAHA – It wasn’t all that long ago that Millard North coach Lindsay Peterson remembers playing in the Millard North Invitational, which was traditionally on Halloween weekend when it used to be one of the biggest and most competitive tournaments in the state.
Now that Peterson is coach the Mustangs instead of playing for them and Halloween weekend is generally after the end of the regular season, a lot has changed with the Millard North Invitational. The tournament is now in early September and went through a stretch where it was losing a team or two each year.
Peterson said today she is intent on turning back the clock to when the Millard North Invitational was considered one of the best tournaments and has set out to make it what it once was. The new-look 2018 Millard North Invitational is a strong step in that direction.
“We were lucky enough to be able to replace some of the teams that left with high-level teams,” Peterson said. “Eventually, I would love to get the tournament back to where it was when we had 12 to 16 teams.”
The field for 2018 includes the addition of last year’s Class B runner-up Omaha Duchesne, which will be right in the thick of the state title hunt again this fall. Also new is national power St. James Academy of Lenexa, Kansas, which will open the year as the top-ranked team in that state according to PrepVolleyball.com.
Three-time defending Class B champion Skutt Catholic returns, joining St. James as potentially being a pair of the highest-ranked teams in the nation converging on the tournament. Class C-1 power Omaha Concordia is in the tournament along with Lincoln North Star and the three Millard schools – North, South and West.
Also new this year is the format, which is changing to a single day instead of two. The tournament is on Saturday, Sept. 8, and will feature two pools of four with the winners of each pool playing for the title while the second place teams play each other and so on. Peterson said she’s hopeful to continue to add to the strong line-up of teams each year and would like to see other traditional powers such as Blue Valley North and Olathe Northwest added to the mix.
Getting the chance to face unfamiliar but high-quality competition is something Peterson said she enjoys and thinks her players do to.
“The players look forward to playing teams they never or rarely get a chance to see,” she said. “I’m really excited about having St. James come up.”