RAPID CITY - Looking at the state volleyball tournament brackets in Class B, the win-loss records from top to bottom don't differ much.

The top-seed Chester Area comes in with a 25-1 mark on the season, the No. 7 seed Harding County finished at

30-4, and in seeds two through six no team has lost more than three times this season.

"This an extremely competitive field," said Harding County head coach Tammy Bruha. "There are a lot of good teams with quality records. From top to bottom every team has a chance."

Harding County will battle Northwestern at 8 p.m. tonight at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center in its first game. Northwestern comes into the tournament as the lone undefeated team with a record of 28-0.

"They have some very talented players, and we're going to have to perform in all aspects of the game," said Bruha. "They have a great outside hitter and a 6-foot-2 middle blocker. But our team is very dedicated. We have great perseverance and great leaders."

The Class B tournament opens at noon today with Chester Area battling Faulkton (19-13 overall).

"We feel fortunate to be the No. 1 seed, but I don't think that discounts anyone else," said Chester Area head coach Jean Benson. "All eight teams have a shot at winning the title. We have some good hitters in Kelsey Backus and Jill Schafer and as long we're making good passes and allowing our offense to work we should be fine."

The second match will feature the Philip Scotties (30-3) against Mt. Vernon (25-1). The match will begin at 2 p.m.

The second session will start at 6 p.m. with Arlington (30-3) taking on Kimball (26-2).

"We know Kimble has some good hitters and plays solid defense, so we're going to have to be ready to go," said Arlington head coach Anita Boeck. "We have some young girls that play well at the net and some older girls that do a lot of things well. So we have a good mix and, hopefully, we can come out here and put it all together."

Play continues through Friday with the consolation round beginning at 10 a.m. with a second game at noon. The winners bracket games will be played at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.

The championship game for Class B will start at 3 p.m. on Saturday.