Nothing like a couple of national tournaments to show us how much we don't know.
Heading into the Durango Classic, the feeling was that Assumption (Louisville, Ky.), Redlands East Valley (Redlands, Calif.), Xavier College Prep (Phoenix) and La Costa Canyon (Carlsbad, Calif.) would have the upper hand - but that was only half right.
While Assumption had a strong showing with a fifth-place finish and its only loss coming to the eventual champion, La Costa Canyon advanced to the finals before falling, thus allowing the Mavericks to zoom up this week's Xcellent 25 Volleyball National Rankings.
Xavier College Prep and Redlands East Valley weren't as fortunate. The Gators went 2-5 and finished in 28th place after entering the tournament undefeated. The Wildcats had similar troubles, losing twice in pool play and then falling two more times in the Gold Bracket.
However the real shocker of the tournament was the performance of Harvard-Westlake (North Hollywood, Calif.). Only 2-0 entering the tournament, the Wolverines won seven straight matches, including wins over Assumption, Long Beach Poly and La Costa Canyon, to win the championship. Harvard-Westlake finished 13th at last year's tournament, finishing fifth in the Silver Bracket.
Then there is the case of Berkeley Prep, previously ranked No. 1 for the past two weeks in the Xcellent 25 Rankings. The Buccaneers fell to Mercy (Louisville, Ky.) in the finals of their own Berkeley Prep Premier Tournament, which featured five state champions from last year including three from Florida (Plant, Berkeley Prep, Martin County), Huntsville (Ala.) and Mercy.
The Buccaneers' loss drops them to the middle of the Xcellent 25 rankings and helps boost Mercy. Assumption's strong showing at the Durango Classic (Mercy has a win over Assumption) also helped Mercy's case.
Papillion-LaVista South benefits from Berkeley Prep's loss, moving into the No. 1 spot. Muncie Burris, with a 26-0 record, is hot on the heels of the Titans should they falter.
Some adjustment was also in order for the teams from Texas. The Texas Girls Coaches Association has had Cy-Woods ranked third in its 5A state rankings for most of the season but recently dropped it to fourth behind Westlake (Austin, Texas). Since Westlake is ranked below Lake Travis in Central Texas, and Lake Travis is ranked below Pearce in the state 4A rankings, it was necessary to put all three of those teams in the rankings ahead of Cy-Woods in order to adhere more closely to the Texas state rankings.
Following is a look at this week's MaxPreps Xcellent 25 Volleyball National Rankings, presented by the Army National Guard:
MAXPREPS XCELLENT 25 VOLLEYBALL NATIONAL RANKINGS1. (2) Papillion-LaVista South (Papillion, Neb.), 12-0
The Titans move up to the No. 1 spot after winning four times last week. Papillion-LaVista South dumped Omaha North 3-0 and then took 2-0 wins over Burke (Omaha, Neb.), Papillion-LaVista (Papillion, Neb.) and Millard North (Omaha, Neb.).
2. (3) Muncie Burris (Muncie, Ind.), 26-0
The Owls are up to 74 wins in a row and counting after taking first place at the Warsaw Invitational over the weekend. Muncie Burris also defeated Bishop Chatard (Indianapolis) 3-0 last week.
Taylor Morey had 28 kills in the tournament while
Arijana Anderson had 26 and
Chelsea Toth 25.
3. (4) St. James Academy (Lenexa, Kan.), 19-0
The Thunder continue to roll, picking up wins over Shawnee Mission Northwest (Kan.), North (Shawnee Mission, Kan.) and Lawrence (Kan.).
Durango Fall Classic MVP Danielle Salka,
Harvard-Westlake
Photo by Jann Hendry
With only two matches to its credit going into the Durango Classic, the Wolverines were a bit of a mystery prior to Saturday. In fact, Harvard-Westlake was ranked No. 10 in the Southern Section coaches' rankings in Division 1-A last week. The Wolverines have since moved up to the No. 1 spot in this week's Southern Section rankings.
5. (7) La Jolla Country Day (Calif.), 6-0
No games scheduled last week for the Torreys, who face La Costa Canyon on Wednesday. The Mavericks finished second at the Durango Fall Classic.
6. (8) Ursuline Academy (Cincinnati), 12-0
Two more wins for the Lions, who have won 41 matches in a row. Ursuline Academy shut out McAuley (Cincinnati) 3-0 and Mother of Mercy (Cincinnati) 3-0.
Kate Reilly and
Christina Beer each had 10 kills against McAuley.
7. (5) Assumption (Louisville, Ky.), 23-3
The Rockets had a strong run at the Durango Classic, winning their pool at 3-0 and then knocking off Redondo Union (Redondo Beach, Calif.) in the qualifying round. Assumption fell to surprising Harvard-Westlake (North Hollywood, Calif.), which went on to win the tournament title, but came back to defeat defending Oregon 6A state champion Central Catholic (Portland, Ore.) 2-1 and Redlands East Valley (Redlands, Calif.) 2-0 for fifth place. It marked the first time since 2004 that Assumption has not finished in the top three at Durango.
8. (9) Rose (Greenville, N.C.), 9-0
The Rampants blanked Ashley (Wilmington, N.C.) 3-0 and New Hanover (Wilmington, N.C.) 3-0 to run their shutout streak to six matches in a row.
Ashton Lee pounded 10 kills against Ashley.
9. (10) Pope (Marietta, Ga.), 37-1
The Greyhounds didn't drop a game and never allowed more than 20 points in whipping through the Gold Bracket Division at the Cobb County Tournament. Pope has won the tournament the past three seasons.
10. (23) La Costa Canyon (Carlsbad, Calif.), 10-1
The Mavericks had a strong showing at the Durango Classic, finishing second behind surprising Harvard-Westlake. La Costa Canyon topped Mira Costa and Los Alamitos en route to reaching the finals. Big matches loom this week against La Jolla Country Day and Torrey Pines (San Diego).
11. (11) King (Corpus Christi, Texas), 31-3
The Mustangs opened district play with a 3-2 win over East Central (San Antonio). King also defeated Robstown 3-0 earlier in the week. King has won 15 matches in a row and remains ranked No. 1 in the Texas Girls Coaches Association rankings.
12. (12) Cary-Grove (Cary, Ill.), 17-0
The Trojans won a pair of Fox Valley - Valley Conference matches with 2-0 wins over McHenry (Ill.) and South (Crystal Lake, Ill.).
13. (17) Bishop Miege (Shawnee Mission, Kan.), 13-2
The Stags topped Aquinas (Overland Park, Kan.) in their only match last week. Bishop Miege has games against Blue Valley Southwest (Overland Park, Kan.) and Blue Valley (Stilwell, Kan.) this week before heading to the Lawrence High Tournament.
14. (18) Mercy (Louisville, Ky.), 24-4
The Jaguars went 5-0 over the weekend in winning the Berkeley Prep Premier Tournament in Tampa, Fla. Mercy topped defending Alabama 6A state champion Huntsville 3-0 and also beat previous Xcellent 25 No. 1 Berkeley Prep 3-2 in the championship match.
15. (1) Berkeley Prep (Tampa, Fla.), 12-1
The Buccaneers dropped their first match of the season, falling to Mercy (Louisville, Ky.) in the championship of the Berkeley Premier Tournament. Berkeley Prep knocked off three defending state champions along the way, beating Florida 5A state champ Martin County (Stuart, Fla.) 3-0 and 6A state champion Plant (Tampa, Fla.) 3-0 in pool play. In Gold Bracket play, the Buccaneers defeated Alabama 6A champion Huntsville 3-1. Berkeley Prep heads to the Asics Challenge in Chicago this week.
16 (NR) Long Beach Poly (Calif.), 12-2
The Jackrabbits had a strong showing at the Durango Classic, going 6-1 with wins over former Xcellent 25 No. 6 Redlands East Valley (Redlands, Calif.), defending Oregon 6A state champion Central Catholic (Portland, Ore.), and SoCal power Mira Costa (Manhattan Beach, Calif.). Long Beach Poly also has a loss to Newport Harbor (Newport Beach, Calif.) from earlier in the season but finished higher than Newport Harbor at the Durango Classic.
17. (15) Jesuit (Portland, Ore.), 10-0
The Crusaders won their first tournament of the season, taking the Rogue Valley Classic without dropping a game over the weekend. Jesuit also topped Sheldon (Eugene, Ore.) 3-0 and Sunset (Portland, Ore.) 3-1 earlier in the week.
Elizabeth Brenner had 22 kills in the two regular season wins and had 71 kills in the six games of the tournament.
18. (19) Lovejoy (Lucas, Texas), 30-3
The Leopards might not receive too much of a challenge the rest of the regular season now that district play has begun. Lovejoy blanked Trinity Christian (Addison, Texas) 3-0 and Princeton (Texas) 3-0 last week.
19. (NR) Pearce (Richardson, Texas), 30-3
The Mustangs are ranked No. 1 in the state 4A rankings and have wins over Lake Travis and Westlake. Pearce has two losses to Lovejoy and one to Hebron (Carrollton, Texas), but it also has a win over Hebron.
20. (NR) Lake Travis (Austin, Texas), 32-2
The Cavaliers move back into the Xcellent 25 after eight straight wins. Lake Travis is ranked No. 1 in Central Texas over Westlake, which recently moved ahead of Cy-Woods in the 5A state rankings. Lake Travis' only losses are to Pearce, ranked No. 1 in 4A, and Lovejoy, ranked No. 1 in 3A.
21 (NR) Westlake (Austin, Texas), 31-2
The Chaparrals move into the Xcellent 25 thanks to eight straight wins since a loss to King at the Pearland Tournament. Westlake's only other loss is to Pearce, ranked No. 1 in the 4A division. Westlake is ranked behind King in the 5A state rankings, but ahead of Cy-Woods.
22. (13) Cy-Woods (Cypress, Texas), 31-1
The Wildcats continue to win, defeating Cypress Lakes (Katy, Texas) and Cy-Ridge (Houston) by 3-0 scores in District 17-5A play.
Daniela Arenas had 13 kills against Cypress Lakes while
Sarah Nielsen had 12 against Cy-Ridge. The Wildcats actually dropped to No. 4, however, in the Texas Girls Coaches Association 5A state rankings. The drop in the Xcellent 25 is to put the Wildcats more in line with the Texas state rankings.
23 (NR) Marist (Chicago), 18-0
The Red Hawks move into the rankings after winning the Rich East Invitational and defeating previously unbeaten, and former Xcellent 25 member, Lyons (LaGrange, Ill.). Marist is ranked No. 2 in the Chicago Sun Times rankings behind Cary-Grove.
24. (16) Marian (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.), 33-2
The Mustangs lost just their second game of the season in falling to Kellogg (Delton, Mich.) 2-1 at the Portage Central Invitational. Marian, after dropping just five games in racking up a 28-1 record, lost five games over the weekend in going 4-1 in the tournament.
25. (25) Edmond Memorial (Okla.), 19-2
The Bulldogs shut out Moore (Okla.) 3-0 and Jenks (Okla.) last week and will play in the Bishop Kelley Tournament this weekend against both the host team and Union (Tulsa, Okla.).
