YAKIMA – The volleyball season will get its usual jumpstart at the SunDome Volleyball Festival on Sept. 11-12.

This year’s tournament features 64 teams with half of the teams playing each day. Smaller schools – Class 1A, 2B and 1B – will take the SunDome floor Friday with 4A, 3A and 2A the following day.

Davis High School will host a 16-team all-classification junior varsity tournament Saturday.

Defending Class 2A champion Lynden – and reigning classification Player of the Year Finley Parcher – headlines the second day. Ellensburg, the 2A runner-up, also is in the field.

Semifinalists and fourth-place finishers Gonzaga Prep (4A) and Sehome (2A) also are part of the big-school tournament. The Bullpups won the Festival last year.

CBBN champion Wenatchee will be joined by conference rivals Davis, Eastmont, Eisenhower, Sunnyside and West Valley.

The Mid-Columbia Conference also will have a large contingent with defending conference champ Kamiakin joined by Hermiston, Richland, Sageview, Southridge and Walla Walla.

Prosser and Selah will join Ellensburg from the CWAC.

Two-time SCAC champion Cashmere returns to defend the small-school championship. The Bulldogs finished third in the state tournament a year ago, and pushed Chelan, winner of five straight 1A titles, to a fifth set in last year’s state semifinals.

Cashmere graduated just two players from last year’s squad, and is expected to contend for the state championship.

Meridian, the 1A state runner-up, 2B champion Northwest Christian, and Manson, winner of the 2025 and 2024 2B state tournaments also are part of the field.

Five SCAC teams are in the tournament, with College Place, Naches Valley, Wapato and Zillah joining Cashmere.

Each field is divided into four-team pools. Pool play will start at 8 a.m. with bracket play beginning at 2:45.

The tournament will give team a state feel as the SunDome hosts the state tournaments in November.