Led by Elia Rubin, Kelly Belardi, Kerry Keefe, Sailors have chance to cement status as nation's best.
Marymount hitter Elia Rubin continued to power the No. 1 team in the MaxPreps Top 25 high school volleyball rankings with 30 kills in a four-set Mission League win one week after earning MVP honors at the Durango Fall Classic. Marymount has a league match today before heading to another loaded-field tournament this weekend — the Nike Tournament of Champions Southwest in Phoenix — and a chance to cement its claim to the top spot in the rankings.
The Nike TOC features teams from Florida to Alaska and California to Kentucky. Marymount heads seven teams that are ranked or have been in the MaxPreps Top 25 this season, including No. 3 Mater Dei, No. 15 Bishop Gorman and bubble teams Archbishop Mitty, Sacred Heart and Vista Murrieta.
The Sailors also will be involved in the inaugural GEICO Girls Volleyball Invitational, Oct. 8-9 in Arizona.
The televised event on the ESPN family of networks also features No. 9 Assumption (Louisville, Ky.), Hamilton (Chandler, Ariz.) and Mount Notre Dame (Cincinnati).
Leilia Toailoa, Bishop Gorman
Photo by Jann Hendry
Highlights: Durango MVP
Elia Rubin had 30 kills in the four-set win over Harvard-Westlake as
Kelly Belardi added 45 assists and 15 digs.
Next: Sept. 28 vs. Alemany, Oct. 1-2 Nike TOC
2. (2) Flower Mound (Texas), 28-3
Highlights: The Jags rolled on with a pair of straight-set wins over Plano East and Marcus.
Next: Sept. 28 vs. Plano West, Oct. 1 vs. Hebron
3. (3) Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.), 23-2
Highlights: Shanelle Puetz kept the Monarch offense rolling through two 3-0 wins with 49 assists on the week.
Next: Sept. 28 vs. JSerra, Oct. 1-2 Nike TOC, Oct. 5 Orange Lutheran
4. (5) St. Pius X Catholic (Atlanta), 37-1
Highlights: The Golden Lions swept through the Southeast Volleyball Invite field, losing two sets over their eight-victory title run. Seniors
Kate Larocco and
Annemarie Rakoski combined for 27 kills in the title match over Gulf Breeze.
Next: Oct. 2 vs. Hebron Christian Academy
5. (8) Papillion-LaVista South (Papillion, Neb.), 23-0
Highlights: The Titans went 6-0 over the week, including sweeping through the Allison Weston Invitational field.
Next: Sept. 28 vs. Bellevue West
6. (8) Hamilton Southeastern (Fishers, Ind.), 19-2
Highlights: The Royals took the Brebeuf Invite title with a 2-1 win over the hosts in the finals to cap a 4-0 run through the field.
Next: Sept. 29 vs. Hamilton Heights, Sept. 30 vs. Noblesville
7. (9) Hudsonville (Mich.), 25-1-1
Highlights: Megan Beemer had 19 assists and seven players had kills in a straight-set win over West Ottawa.
Next: Sept. 30 vs. Christian
8. (10) Notre Dame Prep (Pontiac, Mich.), 34-0
Highlights: The Fighting Irish remained perfect, sweeping Utica as
Sophia Sudzina and
Grace Wenaas combined for 16-0 kills.
Next: Sept. 28 vs. Regina, Sept. 30 vs. St. Catherine of Siena Academy
9. (4) Assumption (Louisville, Ky.), 18-4
Highlights: The Rockets dropped their fourth straight match, 3-0 to Sacred Heart. Still, they own quality wins over Sacred Heart, Mercy, Maryville and St. Ursula Academy.
Next: Sept. 30 vs. Mother McAuley
10. (12) Sequoyah (Canton, Ga.), 33-1
Highlights: Idle last week, the Chiefs are riding a 22-match win streak.
Next: Sept. 28 vs. Chattahoochee
11. (13) Marian (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.), 23-1
Highlights: The Mustangs continue to dominate behind the hitting of
Ava Brizard and setting of
Ava Sarafa. The lone loss is to No. 8 Notre Dame Prep.
Next: Sept. 28 vs. Divine Child, Sept. 30 vs. Gabriel Richard
12. (14) Brandeis (San Antonio), 32-2
Highlights: Jalyn Gibson had 33 kills and 22 digs for the Broncos in their sweeps over Madison and MacArthur.
Carlee Pharris added 65 assists in the two victories.
Next: Sept. 28 vs. Clark
13. (6) Lovejoy (Lucas, Texas), 25-6
Highlights: The Leopards split a pair of district matches, sweeping Sherman while falling 3-0 to McKinney North.
Grace Milliken had 19 kills on the week, while
Averi Carlson added 33 assists and
Rosemary Archer chipped in 20 assists.
Next: Sept. 28 vs. Denison
14. (16) North Raleigh Christian Academy (Raleigh, N.C.), 18-2
Highlights: Brianna Frazilus had 31 kills in two wins, while
Riley Buckley added 27 digs and 46 assists in the pair of victories.
Next: Sept. 28 vs. Durham Academy
15. (17) Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas), 13-1
Highlights: Sophia Ewalefo pounded 34 kills,
Leilia Toailoa added 33 kills and
Caroline Edgeworth dished up 95 assists in a pair of 3-0 victories on the week.
Next: Sept. 29 vs. Green Valley, Oct. 1-2 Nike TOC
16. (18) Yorktown (Ind.), 20-3
Highlights: The Tigers reeled off five wins, including three non-conference victories. Freshman
Charlotte Vinson (16 kills, 15 digs) and junior
Gretchen Moore (13 kills) led the attack in a five-set win over Carroll as
Emilee Hill added 41 assists.
Next: Sept. 28 vs. New Palestine
17. (19) Marin Catholic (Kentfield, Calif.), 17-2
Highlights: The Wildcats swept Redwood and Tamalpias.
Grace Oliva had nine kills in the win over Redwood.
Next: Sept. 29 vs. San Rafael, Oct. 1 vs. Branson
18. (20) Cathedral Catholic (San Diego), 15-4
Highlights: Junior
Kapiolani Coleman pounded 11 kills, four blocks and six digs in the three-set win over Point Loma.
Next: Sept. 29 vs. La Jolla, Oct. 1 vs. Our Lady of Peace
19. (21) V.R. Eaton (Fort Worth, Texas), 25-2
Highlights: The Eagles rolled through the week with a pair of district wins over Keller Central and Fossil Ridge.
Next: Sept. 28 vs. Southlake Carroll, Oct. 1 vs. Byron Nelson
20. (11) Fayetteville (Ark.), 18-2
Highlights: The Bulldogs fell to unbeaten Har-Ber in five sets 25-19, 11-25, 25-23, 15-25, 20-18) as
Madeline Lafata notched 22 kills,
Brooke Rockwell added 19 and
Regan Harp chipped in 14.
Kennedy Phelan served up 56 assists in the loss.
Next: Sept. 30 vs. Rogers
21. (24) Penn (Mishawaka, Ind.), 27-0
Highlights: Taylor Hostetler had 14 kills and 10 digs as
Janet Moala added 14 kills and five blocks in the Kingsmen's four-set win over Marian.
Next: Sept. 28 vs. South Bend St. Joseph, Sept. 30 vs. Jimtown
22. (25) Ponte Vedra (Fla.), 13-0
Highlights: The Sharks were paced by
Zeta Washington (17 kills),
Chelsea Sutton (15 kills) and
Rachel Johnson (14 kills) in a sweep of Merritt Island.
Jessica Shattles dished up 46 assists.
Next: Oct. 4 vs. Fleming Island
23. (NR) Wayzata (Plymouth, Minn.), 16-0
Highlights: Sierra Moore (130 kills) and
Katy Riviere (121 kills) lead the Trojans' hitting attack while
Stella Swenson has served up 427 assists.
Next: Sept. 28 vs. Minnetonka, Sept. 30 vs. Hopkins
24. (15) Redondo Union (Redondo Beach, Calif.), 15-5
Highlights: The Sea Hawks went 2-1 on the week with a four-set loss to Palos Verdes.
Next: Sept. 28 vs. Mira Costa, Sept. 30 Peninsula
25. (NR) Aquinas (Overland Park, Kan.), 21-1
Highlights: The Saints ran the table at the Olathe East tournament, dropping one set.
Ava Martin leads the squad with 205 kills on the season while sophomores
Sophia Bond and
Kelsey Schenck have 227 and 274 assists, respectively.
Next: Sept. 28 vs. Bishop Miege, Sept. 28 vs. Blue Valley West
On the bubble: Walton (Marietta, Ga.), 19-6;
Archbishop Mitty (San Jose, Calif.), 16-3;
Vista Murrieta (Murrieta, Calif.), 9-5;
Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger (Fort Wayne, Ind.), 22-1;
Sacred Heart (Louisville, Ky.), 17-5;
Martin (Arlington, Texas), 25-2;
Green Hope (Cary, N.C.), 13-0;
Hamilton (Chandler, Ariz.), 19-3;
Briarcrest Christian (Eads, Tenn.), 27-2-1;
Victor (N.Y.), 19-0.
