Kansas, Georgia and Kentucky each crowned state champions over the weekend, but a tournament in Santa Barbara, Calif., had the most significance in this week's MaxPreps Xcellent 25 Volleyball National Rankings, presented by Army National Guard.
Emily Sklar, Presentation
Photo by David Stephenson
Assumption (Louisville, Ky.) knocked off defending state champion Mercy (Louisville, Ky.) for the Kentucky state championship while St. James (Lenexa, Kan.) and Bishop Miege (Shawnee Mission, Kan.) both repeated as state champions in Kansas. Meanwhile, Pope (Marietta, Ga.) won its second straight state championship in Georgia.
California is still a week away from postseason play, but the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions provided some interesting results as Presentation (San Jose, Calif.) knocked off both Harvard-Westlake (North Hollywood, Calif.) and La Costa Canyon (Carlsbad, Calif.) to win the title. Harvard-Westlake and La Costa Canyon were the two finalists at the Durango Tournament while Presentation was a runner-up at the Archbishop Mitty Tournament earlier this year, and that's where the difficulty in this week's rankings lies.
Harvard-Westlake has a win over La Costa Canyon, which has a win over La Jolla Country Day, which has a win over Presentation, which has a win over both Harvard-Westlake and La Costa Canyon. Further complicating the matters is that Presentation lost a league match to St. Francis (Mountain View, Calif.) earlier in the week prior to the Santa Barbara Tournament.
Another complication is that Harvard-Westlake has a win over Assumption, which has defeated Mercy, which has defeated Berkeley Prep (Tampa, Fla.).
Our solution is to put Presentation back into the rankings, drop La Costa Canyon a few spots, but keep Harvard-Westlake ahead of Assumption.
Following is a look at this week's MaxPreps Xcellent 25 Volleyball National Rankings:
MAXPREPS XCELLENT 25 VOLLEYBALL NATIONAL RANKINGS
1. (1) Papillion-LaVista South (Papillion, Neb.), 36-0
The Titans captured the Metro Conference championship with a sweep of Omaha Marian, the defending Class A champions, in the championship match. The win marked the fourth time this year the Titans have defeated the Crusaders.
Kadie Rolfzen had 13 kills,
Amber Rolfzen had 14 and
Kelly Hunter added 13 in the win for Papillion-LaVista South. The Titans begin the district tournament on Wednesday with a home match against Omaha Northwest.
2. (2) Muncie Burris (Muncie, Ind.), 38-0
The Owls advanced to the Class 2A semifinals with three straight wins last week. Muncie Burris has won 94 straight state tournament games and will play Fairfield (34-4) on Nov. 6. The Owls downed Shenandoah 3-0, Heritage Christian 3-0 and Brownstown Central 3-0.
Taylor Morey had 20 kills against Brownstown Central and added 16 against both Heritage Christian and Shenandoah.
3. (3) Ursuline Academy (Cincinnati), 24-0
The Lions defeated Troy in three quick games with
Olivia Johnson getting eight kills to win the Springboro 2 District championship. Ursuline Academy faces Mother of Mercy (Cincinnati) in the first round of the state tournament at the Region 4 tournament.
4. (4) Cary-Grove (Cary, Ill.), 37-0
The Trojans captured the Cary Regional with a 2-0 win over second-seeded Barrington on Saturday. Cary-Grove opened the tournament with a 2-0 win over Fox Lake and has won 53 straight matches since last season.
Melanie Jereb had seven kills for the Trojans while
Colleen Smith added 17 assists.
5. (5) Pope (Marietta, Ga.), 54-1
The Greyhounds won the Class 4A state championship with a 30-28, 25-23, 15-25, 25-21 win over Chattahoochee, winning a state title for the second year in a row (Pope won the 5A crown last year).
Mary Hoey had 20 kills for the Greyhounds while
Mary Hannah Arrington had 11 kills and
Danielle Thompson had 15 digs.
Mikaela Tracy contributed 47 assists.
6. (6) St. James Academy (Lenexa, Kan.), 44-1
The Thunder won the Class 4A state championship and captured their third straight state title by topping Topeka Hayden 25-15, 25-8 in the finals Saturday.
Hanna Forst had seven kills and three blocks in the finals.
7. (7) Harvard-Westlake (North Hollywood, Calif.), 22-2
The Wolverines lost in the finals of the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions to Presentation (San Jose, Calif.) by a 3-1 score after topping Buchanan (Clovis, Calif.) 3-0, Corona del Mar (Calif.) 3-0 and Torrey Pines (San Diego) in the first three rounds. Harvard-Westlake also won a pair of league matches last week, topping Dos Pueblos (Goleta, Calif.) 3-1 and Chaminade (West Hills, Calif.) 3-1.
8. (9) Assumption (Louisville, Ky.), 39-4
The Rockets ended Mercy's run as state champions in Kentucky with a 2-0 win over the Jaguars in the Kentucky State Tournament. Assumption went through the tournament without a loss, topping South Laurel 2-0, Apollo 2-0, St. Henry 2-0 and Mercy 2-0. The state championship is the 15th since 1992 for the Rockets.
Jeni Houser was named the tournament MVP and she finished with 17 kills in the championship match.
9. (10) Rose (Greenville, N.C.), 24-0
The Rampants won three matches in the Class 4A state tournament, defeating Terry Sanford (Fayetteville, N.C.) 3-0, Pinecrest (Southern Pines, N.C.) 3-0 and Scotland (Laurinburg, N.C.) 3-0 to advance to the 4A East Regional finals against undefeated Apex (25-0) on Tuesday.
Caroline Douglas had 18 kills against Scotland while
Emily Steele led the team with 12 kills against Pinecrest.
10. (11) King (Corpus Christi, Texas), 40-3
The Mustangs completed the regular season with a 10-0 district record following a 3-0 win over Carroll (Corpus Christi, Texas).
Dempsey Thornton had 15 kills and
Sarah Guzman added 12 in the win. King opens bi-district play this week against Northside Warren.
11. (8) La Costa Canyon (Carlsbad, Calif.), 29-2
The Mavericks lost for just the second time this year, falling to Presentation (San Jose, Calif.) in the semifinals of the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions on Saturday. La Costa Canyon rebounded to beat rival Torrey Pines (San Diego) 3-1 in the third-place match.
Karlee Fuller had 13 kills and
Megan Groess had 11 in the win over Torrey Pines.
12. (12) Bishop Miege (Shawnee Mission, Kan.), 38-4
The Stags bounced back from a 2-1 pool-play loss to Aquinas (Overland Park, Kan.) to defeat Aquinas 2-0 in the championship match to capture the Kansas Class 5A state title. The title is the 20th in school history and the 17th for coach Gwen Pike. Bishop Miege defeated Shawnee Heights 2-0 in the semifinals.
13. (13) Mercy (Louisville, Ky.), 35-6
The Jaguars missed out on a chance to repeat as state champions in Kentucky after falling to Assumption (Louisville, Ky.) 2-0 in the finals. Mercy advanced to the championship match by defeating Greenwood 2-0, Henry Clay 2-1 and Newport Central Catholic 2-0.
14. (14) Berkeley Prep (Tampa, Fla.), 25-2
The Buccaneers opened the first two rounds of the postseason with a pair of wins and a district championship. Berkeley Prep beat Tampa Catholic 3-1 with
Amber Mirabello netting 13 kills. In a 3-0 win over Clearwater Central Catholic, Mirabello topped the team with 10 kills. The Buccaneers open state tournament play this week against McKeel Academy of Technology (Lakeland, Fla.).
15. (15) Long Beach Poly (Calif.), 31-2
The Jackrabbits won nine matches last week, including a key Moore League matchup with Lakewood (3-1) and all seven matches it played at the Redondo Power Classic. Poly defeated Centennial (Bakersfield, Calif.) 2-0 for the championship.
16. (16) Lovejoy (Lucas, Texas), 40-3
The Leopards completed district play undefeated at 10-0 with a 3-0 win over Prosper. Lovejoy opens Class 3A tournament play this week with a bye. The Leopards will play the winner of the Celina-Sanger match later this week.
17. (17) Pearce (Richardson, Texas), 40-3
The Mustangs won their 42nd district match in a row with a 3-0 win over McKinney North.
Katie O'Brien had 13 kills and 13 digs in the match while
Shelby Sullivan added 10 kills.
18. (18) Lake Travis (Austin, Texas), 42-2
The Cavaliers head into bi-district play against Austin Reagan with a 42-2 mark after topping Georgetown 3-0.
Amy Neal had 15 kills and
Katy Beals had 22 assists in the win.
19. (19) Westlake (Austin, Texas), 40-2
The Chaparrals finished the regular season with a 3-0 win over Anderson.
Avery Edwards had 14 assists and
Tessa Hunt had 14 digs in the win. Westlake begins bi-district play this week in Region 2.
20. (20) Cy-Woods (Cypress, Texas), 40-1
The Wildcats completed district play undefeated at 18-0 with a 3-0 win over Cy-Ridge last week.
Carla Armstrong had 12 kills to lead the team. Cy-Woods opens bi-district play this week.
21 (21) Marist (Chicago), 35-2
The Red Hawks won their regional, defeating Richards and Andrew by 2-0 scores to advance to the next round of the Class 4A state tournament.
22. (22) La Jolla Country Day (Calif.), 24-3
The Torreys won a pair of 3-0 matches last week, including a key battle with Bishop's (La Jolla, Calif.) to head into the final week of league play.
Mollie Rogers had 13 kills in a 3-0 win over Parker.
23. (23) Apex (N.C.), 25-0
The Cougars advanced to the North Carolina 4A East Regional finals with three wins last week. Apex topped Cary 3-0, Wakefield 3-2 and Wake Forest-Rolesville 3-0 to make the regional finals against defending state champion Rose (Greenville, N.C.).
Kristen Harris had 16 kills against Wake Forest Rolesville and had 20 against Wakefield.
Megan Gravley had 21 kills in the Wakefield victory.
24. (NR) Presentation (San Jose, Calif.), 29-3
The Panthers were mistakenly dropped from last week's rankings after a win over Archbishop Mitty at the Presentation Classic was reported by one media outlet as a loss. Although Presentation did eventually lose later in the week to St. Francis (Mountain View, Calif.), the Panthers won the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions with a 3-0 win over La Costa Canyon in the semifinals and 3-1 win over Harvard-Westlake in the championship match. Tournament MVP
Emily Sklar had 18 kills in the finals for the Panthers.
25. (25) Lakeville North (Minn.), 26-1
The Panthers opened the postseason with a 3-0 win over Eagan in the Section 3 Tournament. Lakeville North advances to play Apple Valley, a team it defeated two weeks ago.
