MaxPreps Top 25 national high school volleyball rankings

The Woodlands (Texas) swept through its Texas 5A Area Tournament to run its record to 40-0 and remain atop the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 Volleyball Rankings.

The Woodlands has won 102 of 106 sets this season as it enters the second round of state playoffs.

Four top 10 teams — No. 2 St. James Academy (Lenexa, Kan.), No. 4 East Troy (Wis.), No. 6 Cardinal Gibbons (Raleigh, N.C.) and No. 8 Lafayette (Wildwood, Mo.) — have completed their seasons with state championships.

No. 3 Carroll (Southlake, Texas) won its opening game in the second round of Texas 5A postseason on Monday with a 3-0 sweep of Arlington (Texas) — Carroll's 24th-straight shutout.



Unbeatens No. 5 Bellarmine (Tacoma, Wash.), No. 7 Granite Bay (Calif.) and No. 10 Santiago (Corona, Calif.) open postseason action this week, while No. 9 Mother McAuley (Chicago) plays previously-ranked 31-3 New Trier (Winnetka, Ill.) on Friday in the State 4A semifinals.

New to this week's Top 25 are two teams that were previously ranked — No. 16 Avon (Ill.) and No. 17 Assumption (Louisville, Ky.) — along with No. 24 Jupiter. (Fla.).

Avon defeated last week's No. 10 Carmel to win Indiana's large school state title and Assumption put an exclamation mark on its down-the-stretch winning streak with its fourth straight Kentucky title.

Assumption started the season atop the Top 25, but suffered several untimely injuries and lost four straight games after opening the season 10-0. The Rockets finished the season 37-6 and with a 17-match winning streak.

Avon, which lost to Assumption early in the season, finished at 37-3 for its second straight state title.

Jupiter plays 28-3 Winter Park in Florida's 8A State semifinals on Thursday.



Be sure to check out the MaxPreps high school volleyball playoff brackets for each state.

*State Champion


1. (1 last week) The Woodlands (Texas), 40-0
The country's top team swept the Area Tournament with wins over Klein Collins (Spring) and Hendrickson and plays 26-5 Kingwood in the regional quarterfinals on Tuesday.

*2. (2) St. James Academy (Lenexa, Kan.), 47-0, season complete
St. James won its won sixth straight state title and finished the season with a 97-1 set record. St. James has won 56 straight matches over the last two seasons.

3. (3) Carroll (Southlake, Texas), 44-1
The Lady Dragons ran their win streak to 37 as they beat Lamar (Arlington) and The Americas (El Paso) to win the Area Tournament, then blanked 39-8 Arlington on Monday (25-23, 25-19, 26-24). The Lady Dragons' only loss this season was on Aug. 17 against No. 1 ranked The Woodlands, 2-1.

*4. (4) East Troy (Wis.), 44-0, season complete
The Trojans won the state D2 title with a 3-0 (25-11, 25-14, 25-11) victory over Edgewood as M.E. Dodge had 14 kills and Brittney Jakscht had 26 assists. Mikelyn Olsen added 16 digs.



5. (6) Bellarmine Prep (Tacoma, Wash.), 31-0
The Lions rolled past Kentwood in straight sets to win their second straight West Central/Southwest 4A Bi-District championship Saturday night — 25-15, 25-21, 25-17. The defending state champions open state play on Thursday.

*6. (7) Cardinal Gibbons (Raleigh, N.C.), 28-0, season complete
Cardinal Gibbons won its fifth consecutive N.C. High School Athletic Association 3A volleyball title, a state record. The Crusaders won 84 of 87 sets this season.

7. (9) Granite Bay (Calif.), 37-0
In running its streak to 37, Granite Bay has outscored its foes 87-4. Granite Bay swept the Super 8 Tournament last weekend. The Grizzlies face Tokay (Lodi, Calif.) on Tuesday to open postseason.

*8. (12) Lafayette (Wildwood, Mo.), 38-1-2, season complete
Led by Lily Johnson and Maggie Scott, the Lancers defeated Park Hill South (Kansas City, Mo.) to win a third straight title. They finished the season with 29 straight victories. Lafayette's only loss was to St. James Academy in early September.

9. (14) Mother McAuley (Chicago), 38-2
The Macs defeated Oak Park, 2-0 (25-12, 25-16) to win the 4A Super Sections and will play 29-3 New Trier (Winnetka, Ill.) on Friday night.

10. (11) Santiago (Corona, Calif.), 33-0
In winning all 33 matches, Santiago has yet to lose a set in 2013 (77-0). Setter Jessie Prichard averages 11 assists per game in leading Santiago into the playoffs on Thursday.



11. (13) Veterans Memorial (Mission, Texas), 41-0
With wins over Moody and Victoria West, Memorial moves on to play Floresville on Tuesday in state 4A quarterfinals.

12. (16) Churchill (San Antonio), 43-2
Abby Buckingham had 20 kills and 20 digs in a 3-2 win over O'Connor (Helotes, Texas) and Monica Ramon had 17 digs in a 3-0 win over Smithson Valley. The wins move Churchill to the Texas quarterfinals against 37-11 New Braunfels on Tuesday.

13. (18) Dike-New Hartford (Dike, Iowa), 42-1
Winners of 36 straight, the Wolverines play 19-11 Regina (Iowa City) in the first round of the state 2A tournament on Wednesday. St. James Academy is the lone team to beat the Wolverines this season.

14. (21) Immaculate Heart Academy (Washington Township, N.J.), 42-2
Heart opened the round of 16 with a win over Villa Walsh Academy (Morristown). Next up: Red Bank Catholic on Tuesday in state quarterfinals.

15. (24) Notre Dame Prep (Pontiac, Mich.), 57-2-1
Winners of 15 straight, Prep holds a 129-5 margin over opponents this season and plays Center Line (Mich.) on Tuesday in the Regional opener.

*16. (NR) Avon (Ill.), 37-3, season complete
Behind Beth Prince's 16 kills and Rachel Griffin's 34 assists and 17 digs, Avon defeated Carmel to win Illinois' large school title, giving Avon back to back state titles. Avon won its final 26 matches.

*17. (NR) Assumption (Louisville, Ky.), 37-6, season complete
The Rockets won their fourth straight state title with a 3-0 (25-18, 25-13, 28-26) win over Notre Dame (Louisville, Ky.) to finish 37-6 on the season. The Rockets won their final 17 games, losing just five sets during the season's final six weeks.

18. (20) Barnstable (Hyannis, Mass.), 21-0
The Red Raiders swept with through sectionals and will play 24-1 Andover (Mass.) on Wednesday in the state semifinals.



19. (5) St. Ursula Academy (Toledo, Ohio), 29-1, season complete
SUA lost the state title game to 27-3 Mount Notre Dame (Cincinnati), 3-1 (25-27, 25-23, 25-19, 26-24).

20. Carmel (Ind.), 37-2, season complete
The Greyhounds lost in the state finals, 3-1 (25-17, 19-25, 14-25, 18-25) to Avon.

21. (8) Mercy (Louisville, Ky.), 37-2, season complete
The Jaguars lost in the state semis to No. 17 Assumption, 3-2 (20-25, 25-18, 30-28, 17-25, 15-12). Both of Mercy's 2013 losses were to state champion Assumption.

22. (23) St. Francis (Wheaton, Ill.), 36-3
After beating Coal City (Ill.) and Chicago Christian (Palos Heights, Ill.), 2-0, St. Francis moves to the state 3A semifinals versus 32-5 Central (Breeze, Ill.) on Friday.

23. (22) Bettendorf (Iowa), 34-2
Bettendorf moves on to the state tournament and plays 34-5 Hemstead (Dubuque).

24. (NR) Jupiter (Fla.), 25-2
Jupiter has won 19 matches in a row and plays Winter Park (Fla.) on Thursday in the Florida 8A state semifinals. The Warriors have won 72 of 81 sets this season and last lost more than two months ago.



*25. (25) Kamehameha (Honolulu), 30-2, season over
Kamehamaha won the Hawaii D1 state title.

Dropped Out:
No. 15 P.K. Yonge (Gainesville, Fla.)
No. 17 Horizon (Scottsdale, Ariz.)
No. 19 Coppell (Coppell, Texas)