Nebraska's most improved high school volleyball teams

With an incredible climb of 175 spots in MaxPreps' Nebraska Volleyball Rankings over last fall, Garden County earns top honors this week. The Eagles concluded the 2018 season ranked 225th in the state of Nebraska after producing an 18-15 record. Jolene Dodge's program, however, has opened the 2019-20 season with 17 wins in a row, including Tuesday's 25-5, 26-24 win over Leyton.

Led by junior Maddie Lake's 99 kills, Garden County lists four players with at least 41 kills in 2019. Kayden Kramer is credited with 85 ace swats, while Kaitlyn Hunt and Kamry Kramer have produced 66 and 41 kills respectively. Kayden Kramer and Lake have combined for 57 total blocks, while Hunt and Kelsee Moffat have been good for 250 set assists collectively. Five Eagles lead the Garden County defense with at least 50 digs each.

Stuart recovered from a 3-21 mark from a year ago and climbs 164 spots to 89th, claiming the No. 2 spot so far in 2019-20. Osmond and Maywood/Hayes Center tied for the No. 3 spot with 141-rung improvements each.

In the case of a tie, the program that made the greatest improvement in its won-loss record over the previous year, earns the higher spot. The Tigers claimed the tiebreaker after improving nine games from a year ago, while the Wolves are four and a half games better than 2018, and sit fourth.

Class C1's Gordon-Rushville, the first school outside of the Class D ranks, rounds out the Top 5 with a 127-spot improvement. The Mustangs are off to a 13-2 start, following an 18-14 campaign a year ago, and climbed to 61st in Tuesday's rankings. Clearwater-Orchard and Eustis-Farnam may have been a part of this week's Top 10 had they not joined forces with other schools to create cooperatives.

With the addition of Ewing to create the Summerland Cooperative, Clearwater-Orchard improved 121 spots to 52nd Tuesday. The Knights, meanwhile, battle with Elwood to form the Hi-Line Cooperative, and the duo climbed 132 rungs better than Eustis-Farnam's No. 252 ranking of a year ago.

Every classification is represented in this week's Top 10 except for Classes A and B. Omaha Westside represents Nebraska's largest classification with its 85-rung jump to 68th, while Class B is led by York's 86-spot upgrade to 94th, claiming the No. 15 and No. 13 spots respectively.

Nebraska's Top 10 most improved volleyball teams

1. Garden County (Oshkosh) +175
Final 2018 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 225th (18-15)
2019-20 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 50th (17-0)

2. Stuart +164
Final 2018 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 253rd (3-21)
2019-20 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 89th (9-5)

3. Osmond +141
Final 2018 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 256th (6-20)
2019-20 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 115th (7-3)

4. Maywood/Hayes Center (Maywood) +141
Final 2018 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 175th (17-12)
2019-20 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 34th (14-0)

5. Gordon-Rushville (Gordon) +127
Final 2018 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 188th (18-14)
2019-20 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 61st (13-2)

6. Minatare +126
Final 2018 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 281st (3-20)
2019-20 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 155th (6-4)

7. Silver Lake (Roseland) +119
Final 2018 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 246th (6-21)
2019-20 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 127th (9-4)

8. Anselmo-Merna (Merna) +103
Final 2018 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 151st (18-14)
2019-20 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 48th (11-5)

9. Winnebago +96
Final 2018 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 255th (9-20)
2019-20 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 159th (7-3)

10. Yutan +93
Final 2018 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 238th (5-24)
2019-20 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 145th (10-6)