Three sets away from glory, three from ruin. Take a look at the boys volleyball and rugby brackets: The MIAA continued announcing brackets for the spring state tournament on Tuesday, with five releases: Tennis brackets will be released on Saturday, while baseball, lacrosse and softball are scheduled for Wednesday.
The top 32 teams in both boys volleyball divisions and teams with a winning percentage of 50 percent or better automatically qualified.
In men's rugby, the top four teams in Division 1 and any team with a win percentage over .500 will automatically qualify, while in Division 2, any team with a win percentage over .500 and the top seven will automatically qualify. In women's rugby, the remaining four teams with a win percentage over .500 and the top three will automatically qualify.
Boys volleyball matches could start on Thursday or Wednesday if both athletic directors agree. The rugby tournament would begin on Thursday.
The boys volleyball tournament features nine area competitors, led by No. 3 seeds Natick (Division 1) and Wayland (D2). Milford reached the Division 2 Final Four last season but moved up to Division 1 this spring.
Algonquin sent both its girls (ranked second) and boys (ranked seventh in Division 2) teams to the tournament, while the Lincoln-Sudbury girls team qualified as the fourth seed.
Here are the arrival locations for each team in the Metro West and Milford regions:
Men's Volleyball
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Division 1
Qualifying Round
No. 34 Nipmuc (14-8) vs. No. 31 Revere (12-9)
Round 1
No. 35 South Lancaster Academy/No. 30 Springfield Central vs. No. 3 Natick (15-2)
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No. 36 Leominster/No. 29 Newton South vs. No. 4 Milford (13-5)
Battle tested:Milford boys volleyball plays the toughest schedule in the state.
No. 20 Braintree (14-6) vs. No. 13 Lincoln-Sudbury (11-4)
No. 22 Wellesley (10-4) vs. No. 11 Lexington (14-5)
Division 2
Qualifying Round
No. 42 Innovation Academy Charter (11-9) vs. No. 23 Bellingham (9-9)
No. 33 Assabet Valley (13-6) vs. No. 32 Randolph (11-9)
Round 1
#35 Cytec/#30 Frontier vs. #3 Wayland (12-8)
Innovation Academy Charter/Bellingham vs. No. 10 Kief Tech (17-3)
No. 44 Academy of the Pacific Rim/No. 21 Burlington vs. No. 12 Marlborough (13-5)
Men's Rugby
Division 2
Round 8
No. 7 Algonquin (5-2) vs. No. 2 Hanover (5-1)
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Women's Rugby
State Semifinals
No. 3 Weymouth (4-2) vs. No. 2 Algonquin (5-1)
No. 4 Lincoln-Sudbury (3-3) vs. No. 1 Belmont (6-0)
