By By ERIKA PICKLES and SCOTT NOVAK / Niles Daily Star
NILES – The Michigan High School Athletic Association District Volleyball Tournaments are officially under way.
Several sights began play on Thursday evening.
Niles will begin district competition tonight as it travels to Portage to face Kalamazoo Central in the Class A semifinals. Brandywine and host Buchanan will open up Class C district action on Saturday.
The Buchanan district actually got under way on Thursday night with Eau Claire taking on Watervliet and Bridgman facing ranked River Valley.
Class A at Portage Northern
Host Portage Northern drew a first round bye in the Division 1 volleyball districts, which begin Tuesday, Feb. 27.
Niles and Kalamazoo Central will go head-to-head at 4:30 p.m., Portage Central and Benton Harbor will play at 6 p.m. and Mattawan and Loy Norrix will meet at 7:30 p.m.
The four winning teams will meet for the semifinals on Friday, March 2 at 4:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. Finals will be held that same night at 7:30 p.m.
Class C at Buchanan
The Lady Bobcats will face Watervliet at 10 a.m. on Saturday, while the Lady Bucks will square off against The Lady Mustangs at approximately 11:30 a.m.
The championship match is slated for noon.
Class B at Three Rivers
Dowagiac will face host Three Rivers in the opening round of the Division 2 volleyball tournament, which will begin on Saturday, March 3.
Defending champion Sturgis, Vicksburg and Paw Paw all received first round byes.
The Chieftains and Wildcats will square off at 9 a.m., with the winner advancing to the semifinals where it will face Paw Paw at noon.
Vicksburg and Sturgis will meet in the other semifinal, scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m.
The finals are scheduled for 2 p.m.
Class B at St. Joseph
Edwardsburg will face the host Lady Bears at 10 a.m., while Lakeland Conference champion Coloma will face Berrien Springs in the other semifinal at noon.
Lakeshore will face the winner of the Edwardsburg-St. Joseph match at 2 p.m.
The winner of the Coloma-Berrien Springs match advances for the finals, which are set to begin at 7 p.m.