Top seeds South and Dimond did the expected on the first day of the Cook Inlet Conference volleyball tournament, leaving it to West and Bartlett to provide the drama.
South and Dimond each breezed to three-set victories Tuesday at Service High, with top-seeded South cruising past eighth-seeded Service 25-16, 25-17, 25-16 and second-seeded Dimond beating seventh-seeded Eagle River 25-16, 25-8, 25-12.
The match between fourth-seeded West and fifth-seeded Bartlett was a four-set thriller in which three of the sets were decided by two points.
West pulled out a 25-16, 24-26, 26-24, 25-23 win behind Mia Keyser's 10 kills and eight digs and Rosie Rush's 21 assists and 10 digs.
Dimond dispatched Eagle River behind a balanced attack led by Alissa Pili's eight kills. Cali Clark, Brynn Sulte and Teuila Lolotai each added seven kills, with Lolotai adding 15 assists and 10 digs.
Tournament play continues Wednesday with three matches at Service – a loser-out match between Service and Bartlett at 4 p.m., a first-round match between third-seeded East and sixth-seeded Chugiak at 5:45 p.m., and a winner's bracket match between South and West at 7:30 p.m.
The tournament runs through Saturday.