Forsyth Central coach Katie Vazquez will get a chance to go against her alma mater. North Forsyth coach Kathy Houston will get to see how her young team responds after an opening-season loss. West Forsyth first-year coach Jake Dickey will finally get to see how much a summer of installing his program will pay off.

They, plus Pinecrest Academy and 14 other teams, will compete in the seventh annual Forsyth Challenge volleyball tournament Friday and Saturday hosted by North and West.

The 16 teams will be broken up into four pools. After the end of pool play Saturday morning, the top two teams from each pool will play single-elimination in the Gold Bracket to determine the tournament winner. North Gwinnett, last year’s winner, is back.

For most teams, it will be the first big measuring stick of the season.

"The girls have been great in practice," Dickey said. "We’re really looking forward to seeing how we do in this tournament."

North will be host to Pools A and B where Cambridge, Central Gwinnett, Lee County, Meadowcreek, North Gwinnett, North Hall and Walnut Grove will play.

West will host Pools C and D where Central, Collins Hills, Fellowship Christian, Jackson County, Mountain View, Norcross and Pinecrest will play.

"It’s a very competitive tournament," Houston said. "Teams come to see where they are. There’s so many teams that everyone gets to see a variety of playing styles."

Vazquez will get to see a team she’s very familiar with. Central’s coach graduated from Collins Hill. The two teams are paired together in Pool D, and the Lady Bulldogs coach is hoping her team can keep its strong start to the season going after defeating North in four sets on Tuesday.

"Playing my alma mater should be a lot of fun," Vazquez said, "but I’d like to see us go 2-1 in pool play and play well."