KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany — Unlike in years past, there’s no clear favorite going into this weekend’s DODDS volleyball championships.

DODDS’s idea of teams only scheduling matches against other schools in close proximity made sure of that.

The games begin Thursday at six venues in the Kaiserslautern military community and will end at the Ramstein Southside gym on Saturday.

All four defending champs are in the hunt.

Ramstein and Marymount are the top seeds in Divisions I and III, respectively. However, Aviano — last year’s D-II champ — earned only the No. 4 seed, and D-IV champ Rota comes into the tournament as the No. 3 seed.

But just how good a team is, or how good the competition is ... is anyone’s guess.

"Unfortunately, … Baumholder has been put in a region where we get no exposure to the majority of other D-III teams," Lady Bucs coach Sam Alsup said in an e-mail. "…I am totally in the dark about the other teams’ individual players."

Like Alsup, Lakenheath coach David Hagander found his region devoid of comparable foes.

"We absolutely would have been better prepared (for Europeans) had we had a chance to play Ramstein during the season," Alsup said. "We didn’t play a D-I school until two weeks ago. We were finally able to tell what kind of a team we had against Heidelberg (a 3-1 loss).

"It felt like preseason until then, and now all of a sudden our season is almost over," he added.

So, how are coaches supposed to prepare for such a tournament?

Aviano’s Hans Hillestad has some advice.

Hillestad’s squad is accustomed to being isolated in Italy with only Naples as a D-II opponent.

"My team strategy is the same for every team, whether we’ve played them or not," he said. "Play hard and have fun."

Here’s how each division shapes up:

Division I

Once again, Ramstein, behind returning All-Europeans Charnel Austin and Karis Wadsack, marched through the regular season unbeaten, with the only close call coming in a five-set home triumph over Heidelberg on Sept. 27.

Still, Hagander and Kaiserslautern’s Scott Davis don’t envision a Ramstein cakewalk.

"Although Ramstein has not been defeated this year," Davis said in an e-mail, "I really think Heidelberg will give them a run for their money. And don’t count Lakenheath out."

"It looks like there’s a lot of parity among the D-I schools. I think this will be one of the more competitive tournaments in recent years," Hagander said.

Division II

The race is wide open, Hillestad said.

"Whoever gets hot this week will have a good time," he said. "The sisters from SHAPE (Liene and Edite Bakusa) should be really strong. If Naples gets hot, watch for Sammie Dozier."

Division III

Baumholder’s Alsup doesn’t know it yet, but Marymount’s about to spring a freshman with which to be reckoned on the D-III court.

"Watch Marymount in D-III," wrote Aviano’s Hillestad, whose club lost to the Royals 15-25, 15-25, 23-25 at home Oct. 17. "They have a freshman hitter, Nikki Gombar, who’s going to be out of this world. [She’s] played club ball since she could walk."

Division IV

Brussels, completely rebuilt this season, cemented its top-seed status on Saturday with a 3-0 conquest of D-II No. 1 SHAPE. Bria Yazzie and Kathleen Anderson have stepped in for graduated Brussels All-Europeans Lizz McVicer and Caitlin Quinn.

Play begins at 9 a.m. Thursday, with the title games scheduled to tip off starting at 10 a.m. Saturday.

And while the girls will be deciding their champs in Germany, the boys’ Mediterranean championships will be taking place in Aviano.

Teams from Italy and Turkey, joined by private school Black Forest Academy from Germany, offer the only varsity boys’ volleyball programs in Europe.

Hillestad, whose son Sam sets for the Saints, advises watching top-seeded American Overseas School of Rome and No. 2 Aviano as likely bets to replace Milan as the Med champions.

"The clear favorites are AOSR and Aviano," Sam Hillestad said. "They were head and shoulders above the rest of the field. The unknowns are BFA and Turkey (Incirlik and Ankara). We have not seen them play at all."

The Med, too, begins on Thursday, with the championship game set for Saturday.

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