Southeast Iowa’s largest athletic conference is getting together tonight for the start of their annual volleyball tournament.

The 20 member schools of the Southeast Iowa Super Conference will compete in four different tournament style matches tonight at various venues across the region.

This evening in Wayland, the top seed and number one rated team in Class A volleyball Holy Trinity Catholic Crusaders will compete at WACO High School in pool play against Warriors, the Highland Huskies, the Van Buren Warriors, and the Lone Tree Lions. Highland head coach Chris Rath says there is no easy game in the WACO pool, and playing a team with Holy Trinity’s caliber will be beneficial heading into back half of the season.

“We have had a few tournaments where we have been able to see that type of caliber.” Rath said, “To see that caliber again this year, I think the girls need that to really push them forward. Giving them that aspect of what they can do and a goal to work towards.”

In Wapello this evening, the no. 3 seed West Burlington Falcons will be the top team in the pool against the Arrows, the Iowa Mennonite School, the Pekin Panthers, and the Harmony Rockets. Iowa Mennonite School head coach Shannon Miller says despite a current 12 game losing streak, she feels her team could end their losing streak tonight.

“First off, we just got done playing Pekin last week and that was one of our five set losses.” Miller said, “We feel like we are going to come back and play them real strong and hopefully the W will go in our column this time.”

In Danville this evening, the New London Tigers are sitting as the top seed in pool play against the Bears, the Winfield-Mount Union Wolves, the Columbus Community Wildcats, and the Maharishi Tigers. Winfield head coach Dave Pieart says his team will have to be on their toes every match this evening, but he is really looking forward to the match up with New London.

“They are 14-6 and ranked sixth in the state.” Pieart said, “We have had a very good rivalry with them over the last several years but they tend to do slightly better than us at times. We are trying to focus on running into them.”

And finally in Mediapolis tonight, the Bulldogs will be the top seed in pool play and the no. 2 seed overall as they will face the Notre Dame Nikes, the Cardinal Comets, the Central Lee Hawks and the Louisa-Muscatine Falcons.

First round matches start at 5 p.m. at each site, with the top eight teams advancing to Saturday’s championship round.

@ WACO (Holy Trinity, Highland, Waco, Van Buren, Lone Tree)

Round 1-Holy Trinity Catholic vs. Van Buren; Highland vs. WACO

Round 2- Holy Trinity Catholic vs. Lone Tree; WACO vs. Van Buren

Round 3-Lone Tree vs. WACO; Highland vs. Van Buren

Round 4- Holy Trinity Catholic vs. Highland; Van Buren vs. Lone Tree

Round 5- Holy Trinity Catholic vs. WACO; Highland vs. Lone Tree

@Wapello  (West Burlington, Pekin, Wapello, IMS, Harmony)

Round 1- West Burlington vs. IMS; Pekin vs. Wapello

Round 2- West Burlington vs. Harmony; IMS vs. Wapello

Round 3- Harmony vs. Wapello; Pekin vs. IMS

Round 4- West Burlington vs. Pekin; IMS vs. Harmony

Round 5- West Burlington vs. Wapello; Pekin vs. Harmony

@Danville  (New London, Winfield-Mount Union, Columbus, Danville, Maharashi)

Round 1- New London vs. Danville; Winfield-Mount Union vs. Columbus

Round 2- New London vs. Maharashi; Columbus vs. Danville

Round 3- Maharashi vs. Columbus; Winfield-Mount Union vs. Danville

Round 4- New London vs. Winfield-Mount Union; Danville vs. Maharashi

Round 5- New London vs Columbus; Winfield-Mount Union vs. Maharashi