Papillion-LaVista South's 25-15, 25-14, 25-14 win over Millard West in the Class A state title contest and their No. 1 ranking in MaxPreps' Nebraska final Top 25 a year ago, didn't launch the Titans into the No. 1 position as Nebraska's most dominant volleyball program since 2007. But the Titans certainly narrowed the gap after finishing 40-0 last November.
Still, Omaha Marian remains on top after securing five state championships in seven finals appearances, over the past 15 seasons, and playing its way into 14 MaxPreps Nebraska Top 25 rankings. Amy McLeay's program outscored the runner-up Titans 399-393 after holding a 51-point cushion going into the 2021 season.
The Titans, who also went undefeated in 2010 (41-0) and 2011 (37-0) played in nine championship matches, to seven for Omaha Marian, outscoring the Crusaders 140-120 in state championship points. Papillion-LaVista South won five titles in 15 seasons as well.
Omaha Skutt Catholic, winners of the last seven Class B state titles, sailed into third place on the strength of its eight state championship matches in a decade and a half. The Skyhawks, however, missed the MaxPreps Top 25 in 2008, 2009 and 2012 to finish with 385 points, eight behind the runner-up Titans. Papillion-LaVista is the only school to make all 15 Top 25s and finished with a fourth best 318 points. Lincoln Pius X scored 300 points to round out the Top 5.
Classes C2, D1 and D2 did not land a program in the Top 10. But they were well represented. Lincoln Lutheran, Class C2's highest ranked club at No. 18, finished with 130 points. Hastings St. Cecilia, on the other hand, was the highest ranked Class D1 squad after finishing 22nd with 109 points. Exeter-Milligan, who claimed five state titles in six tries, led Class D2 by finishing 17th with 142 points.
MaxPreps has developed its own system in determining which volleyball programs compete at the highest level over an extended period of time. Here is an explanation on how the points are accumulated:
1. 20 points for a state title
2. 10 points for finishing as a state runner-up
3. Other points are based on a team's Top 25 standing in the final MaxPreps Nebraska Rankings. For instance, if a school claimed the top spot, it received 25 points, while a No. 25 ranking is good for one point.
Papillion-LaVista South won a state title last season and is the second most dominant program in Nebraska since 2007.
Photo: Samuel Mfinanga
1. Marian (Omaha) — 399 Points
State titles: 5
Runner-ups: 2
Top 25 state rankings: 2007 (5th), 2008 (6th), 2009 (1st), 2010 (2nd), 2011 (4th), 2012 (2nd), 2013 (3rd), 2014 (2nd), 2015 (1st), 2016 (5th), 2017 (1st), 2018 (13th), 2019 (17th), 2020 (23rd).
2. Papillion-LaVista South (Papillion) — 393 Points
State titles: 5
Runner-ups: 4
Top 25 state rankings: 2007 (18th), 2008 (12th), 2009 (2nd), 2010 (1st), 2011 (1st), 2012 (1st), 2014 (14th), 2015 (6th), 2016 (9th), 2017 (7th), 2019 (10th), 2020 (3rd), 2021 (1st).
3. Skutt Catholic (Omaha) — 385 Points
State titles: 7
Runner-ups: 1
Top 25 state rankings: 2007 (10th), 2010 (24th), 2011 (12th), 2013 (13th), 2014 (6th), 2015 (2nd), 2016 (1st), 2017 (2nd), 2018 (2nd), 2019 (1st), 2020 (2nd), 2021 (2nd).
4. Papillion-LaVista (Papillion) — 318 Points
State titles: 2
Runner-ups: 1
Top 25 state rankings: 2007 (2nd), 2008 (1st), 2009 (10th), 2010 (8th), 2011 (23rd), 2012 (18th), 2013 (6th), 2014 (1st), 2015 (8th), 2016 (2nd), 2017 (4th), 2018 (20th), 2019 (2nd), 2020 (5th), 2021 (12th).
5. Pius X (Lincoln) — 300 Points
State titles: 3
Runner-ups: 1
Top 25 state rankings: 2007 (1st), 2008 (2nd), 2009 (12th), 2010 (9th), 2011 (2nd), 2012 (9th), 2013 (4th), 2016 (24th), 2017 (14th), 2018 (4th), 2019 (3rd), 2020 (7th), 2021 (17th).
6. Kearney Catholic (Kearney) — 297 Points
State titles: 4
Runner-ups: 3
Top 25 state rankings: 2007 (16th), 2008 (13th), 2009 (15th), 2010 (16th), 2011 (15th), 2012 (3rd), 2013 (8th), 2014 (3rd), 2015 (3rd), 2016 (12th), 2020 (13th), 2021 (8th).
7. Grand Island Central Catholic (Grand Island) — 267 Points
State titles: 3
Runner-ups: 3
Top 25 state rankings: 2007 (6th), 2008 (7th), 2009 (5th), 2010 (5th), 2011 (13th), 2015 (18th), 2016 (17th), 2017 (9th), 2018 (16th), 2019 (7th), 2020 (16th), 2021 (16th).
8. Northwest (Grand Island) — 251 Points
State titles: 1
Runner-ups: 6
Top 25 state rankings: 2007 (7th), 2008 (4th), 2009 (14th), 2010 (11th), 2011 (14th), 2012 (4th), 2013 (1st), 2015 (9th), 2016 (7th), 2017 (18th).
9. Millard North (Omaha) — 205 Points
State titles: 2
Runner-ups: 1
Top 25 state rankings: 2007 (4th), 2008 (16th), 2009 (25th), 2010 (10th), 2012 (20th), 2013 (11th), 2016 (6th), 2017 (8th), 2018 (1st), 2019 (4th).
10. Scotus (Columbus) — 203 Points
State titles: 3
Runner-ups: 1
Top 25 state rankings: 2008 (3rd), 2009 (3rd), 2010 (14th), 2011 (3rd), 2012 (5th), 2013 (17th), 2014 (15th), 2015 (15th).
