We’re well aware that Texas high school volleyball is thriving with most of the teams having already played 15 or more matches. This weekend, beginning on Thursday, is the ninth annual Volleypalooza, hosted by Rouse HS, where 64 teams from across the Lone Star State will travel to the Austin area to compete.

We were curious if this was the largest field to date, but Rouse head coach and Volleypalooza (VP) director Jacob Thompson said two years ago was the biggest VP tournament with 68 teams. However, by the end of it, just 23 teams were left standing due to Hurricane Harvey moving in on the state forcing teams to drop out.

Thompson did say that the 2019 tournament is the strongest field he’s ever had since its conception in 2011. It won’t be easy to win it, either. It’s a three-day event, and after Day 1, the field will be cut from 64 to 32. After play on Day 2, only the top team will advance in each of the eight pools leaving eight teams to fight for Gold.