MaxPreps is pleased to announce that the
Edmond Santa Fe (Edmond, Okla.) Wolves have officially been named to the 14th Annual MaxPreps Tour of Champions presented by the Army National Guard, which is in its ninth year honoring volleyball.
This is one of the most prestigious team awards in all of high school sports and it is an exclusive honor reserved for 100 of the top teams nationwide. In order to be eligible, a team must win a state championship and be highly ranked in the MaxPreps National Rankings. For volleyball, only 10 of the country's best are invited and with nearly 20,000 competing varsity teams, this puts the Wolves ahead of 99.9 percent of their opponents!
In order to be eligible, the team not only had to be nationally ranked, but also had to win a state championship. Beating Stillwater 25-16, 25-15, 25-22 in the
OSSAA Class 6A state championship contest on Tuesday, October 16 marked the completion of an incredible 32-3 season — and earned Edmond Santa Fe an invitation to the Tour of Champions.
After taking a 2-0 advantage into the third game of the state championship match, with nine and 10-point wins in sets one and two respectively, the Wolves had to battle in the third set. Edmond Santa Fe trailed early and late before rallying with five straight points to take a 23-19 advantage. The Wolves eventually squeezed out a three-point win for Edmond Santa Fe's second straight Class 6A title and the seventh in school history.
With the championship sweep, the Wolves, who didn't lose a set throughout regional and state competition, became the first Oklahoma Class 6A school to win back to back state volleyball titles since Bishop Kelly's run in 2012 and 2013. Kaeli Robinson and Rylen Moore led the Wolves' attack with nine and eight kills respectively.
Edmond Santa Fe opened postseason competition with a 25-10, 25-12, 25-16 first round regional win over Norman. Then, following a 25-13, 25-20, 25-13 regional final win over Westmoore, the Wolves kicked in the door to the Final Four with a 25-17, 25-15, 25-23 state quarterfinal triumph over Owasso. Edmond Santa Fe bumped Deer Creek from state championship contention with a 25-18, 25-20, 25-20 state semifinal win to set up the championship bout with Stillwater.
The Wolves opened the season with a 25-15, 25-15, 25-9 win over Westmoore. Then, following a 25-22, 25-16, 25-14 triumph over Christian Heritage, Edmond Santa Fe ran off another four victories to open the season 6-0. Will Ethridge's club sandwiched a pair of loses to Edmond North around sweeps of Stillwater, Norman and Jenks to take its record to 9-2. The Wolves then lost one more match the rest of the year. Edmond Santa Fe won 97 of 110 sets on the year and swept 29 opponents. Ethridge's club allowed its opposition to win more than one set just four times on the year.
Having won 23 of its final 24 matches to conclude the season, Edmond Santa Fe set itself up for some rather high rankings come season's end. Not only are the Wolves the top-ranked squad in
MaxPreps' Oklahoma Class 6A rankings, Ethridge's Wolves are the best club in all of
Oklahoma. Edmond Santa Fe played its way into the No. 33 spot in
MaxPreps' National Rankings and sits 22nd in
MaxPreps' Xcellent 25 Writers' Poll!
These incredible season achievements have earned the Edmond Santa Fe Wolves an invitation to the 14th Annual Tour of Champions. Please join us in the gymnasium as we celebrate with the girls volleyball team, coaching staff, students and fans on Friday, Dec. 14 at approximately 7:30 p.m. during halftime of the boys basketball game.
For more information about the Tour of Champions, please visit the
MaxPreps Tour of Champions site.
