It’ll be early, but there will be no need for volleyball players from St. Mary’s and Colorado Springs Christian School to rubs their eyes when they look across the court Friday morning.

Each squad will see its longtime rival in what’s usually an old-time Tri-Peaks League showdown. Except this time, the stakes will be much higher at 8 a.m. when the Pirates (18-6) and Lions (21-4) open pool play at the 3A state tournament in the Denver Coliseum.

“There might be a slight advantage playing someone you know,” St. Mary’s senior Alyssa Martin said. “We can look back at the past and know who we should be looking out for. Even though it’s much earlier than we’re used to playing, I know we’ll be well woken up for such a big game.”

Pool play continues through Saturday as 12 of the state’s top teams in 2A, 3A, 4A and 5A try to emerge from four, three-team pools to reach the semifinals in each class.

Coronado, seeded 12th in the 5A tournament, is the Colorado Springs Metro League’s lone entry.

In 4A, two-time defending champion Lewis-Palmer, seeded second, along with top-seeded Cheyenne Mountain, represent the Pikes Peak Athletic Conference and could see each other in the championship match.

Manitou Springs, another Tri-Peaks League school, earned a No. 7 seed in 3A, while Colorado Springs School, ranked 10th in 2A, is making its third consecutive appearance at state.

On the other hand, St. Mary’s, seeded ninth, is the least experienced of the Pikes Peak region squads at state this weekend, as none of its three current seniors played on the 2012 team that made a run to the semifinals.

Still, there’s an unbridled energy from a Pirates team that had to rally from a two-set deficit to beat Faith Christian at the regional tournament last weekend just to get to state.

“We’re blessed to still be playing,” Pirates senior DD Rigano said. “We need to take this opportunity against CSCS to keep pushing and prove ourselves even more. Anything can happen now.”

CSCS, seeded fourth in 3A and tops in its pool, reached the 2014 semifinals after missing the tournament completely in 2013. The Lions bring plenty of experience back from that squad, one that pushed eventual state champ Eaton to the brink of defeat in the first two sets in a heart-wrenching pool-play loss.

“We have more expectations this year, and we know we’re not the underdog anymore,” Lions senior outside hitter Abby Skrastins said. “I think the feeling of being so close last year has been a motivator for us all season long. We’re working on not letting teams get runs like that.”

But first, CSCS will have to get past a familiar foe in St. Mary’s.

“It can be easy to overlook a team you’ve played and beaten,” Skrastins said. “You have to act like they’re a new opponent. We know it’s not going to be the same game from before. We just have to go out there and treat it like a championship match.”