The 2014 Mid-Continent League volleyball tournament is off and running. Smith Center defeated Oakley 25-9, 25-4 in the first match in the pool at the high school, while Ellis ousted Norton 25-22, 27-25 in the first match of the elementary school pool. Stockton leads Hill City late in the first set of the next high school pool match, while the Plainville-Trego match at the elementary school is just getting started.

I’m not used to doing volleyball on a Thursday, but this will be a way of life, since the MCL is going to have a two-day tournament from this point forward with 10 schools. It’s the right thing to do, because if they tried to do it in a single day, it would drag on and on and on. You need four courts to do a 10-team tournament in a single day, much the way Concordia has, although one of the two courts at its high school is the old gymnasium, where there is absolutely no room on the sidelines.

Stockton just won the first set from Hill City 25-17.