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Congrats to vballrecruiter.com’s 2022 High School National Champions the Cathedral Catholic Dons! Cathedral Catholic (42-0) completed a nearly-perfect season in which it lost just one set by sweeping undefeated St. Francis/Mountain View, 25-21, 25-16, 25-23, in Saturday’s California’s Open Division state championship match at Santiago Canyon College in Orange. Let’s take a look at what made for Cathedral Catholic’s first national championship! THE BACKGROUND Cathedral Catholic saw the blueprint first hand in 2021. The Dons walked off the court after suffering a four-set loss to Elia Rubin-led Marymount in the state semifinals. The Sailors closed out its undefeated season and national championship in the next outing by sweeping Archbishop Mitty in the final. Given that for 2022 Cathedral Catholic would be returning plenty of talent, including players like Julia Blyashov (Stanford), Milan Bayless (Colgate), Ryleigh Patterson (Harvard), and Noemie Glover (Oregon), and had players like setter Amanda Saeger (DePaul), middle Jenna Hanes (Michigan) and libero Maya Evens ready to step into starting roles, the Dons would no doubt be the No. 1 team in the nation to begin this fall as they sought their own storybook season.   “Definitely after the loss last year we came back very motivated,” Blyashov said. “We wanted to win it very badly. Last year we thought we were going to win and it was such a heartbreaking loss it motivated us for this season. We were focused on every game and didn’t want to get comfortable so we continued doing that. We had so much fun along the way. It was so awesome to be able to do it.” THE SPRAINED ANKLE Blyashov was not yet committed to Stanford when Cathedral lost to Marymount last fall. Once she announced her future college the storyline was obvious. We could be looking at a Stanford-bound stud once again leading her team to an undefeated high school national championship. What was less obvious is a sprained ankle sidelining Blyashov for the state playoffs and suddenly putting Cathedral’s immaculate season in jeopardy. Cathedral Catholic needed four points to finish off a sweep of Torrey Pines in the CIF San Diego Section final on Nov. 4 when suddenly Blyashov went down. Coach Juliana Conn said no one thought much of it right away, thinking she would be okay. However, the next day Blyashov’s ankle was swollen enough she would be out of the upcoming state tournament.   It was uh-oh time, as the road to the national championship took possibly a devastating twist. “Obviously, it wasn’t the best timing for an injury but injuries happen. They are part of sports,” Blyashov said. “I looked to my team and they were so supportive. I’m so happy for everyone. We have the best team. It was so easy to be happy and celebrate. It was awesome. Obviously, it would have been better not to be injured but this team is so special I wouldn’t take this night back at all.” THE DEPTH Here is what Conn said after Cathedral Catholic captured the Durango Fall Classic title in September without using a set lineup as she rotated players from set to set and match to match: “It’s a big group and sometimes with that many good players it can be hard to accept smaller roles. But this group is embracing it and girls are waiting for their chance while still supporting whoever is on the court. The feedback this weekend from other coaches was great. They were telling us how engaged our bench is.” Conn certainly had options. It was typical to see Blyashov at outside, Evens at libero, Hanes anchoring one of the middle positions and Saeger setting, though Conn could bring senior Tehya Maeva in at any point to run the offense. We could see Patterson in the middle or on the right. It could be senior Mia Compass in the middle or senior Kapiolani Coleman on the right. Juniors Niki Egan, Ayva Moi and Dakota Conway all had roles as defensive specialists. Seniors Milan Bayless and Cate Schnell had their roles, with Bayless often hitting front row on the left and Schnell playing across the back. Both had to take on more with Blyashov out, as Bayless took on the OH1 position and Schnell started hitting across the front row too. Through it all, there was no going wrong. “It’s been the talk of the season,” Conn said after Saturday night’s victory. “Everyone keeps asking how I’m keeping everyone happy. I think everyone knew there was a role to be filled and everyone was accepting of that. Whenever someone went down or someone had a bad game, someone would step in their position and they would be happy for them. “At the beginning of the season we talked about how we all know they start for their clubs and could be a six-rotation player on any team, but we are all here together and we need to be able to handle that or it could go really south. From Day 1, we were deep and we would fight it out in practice and the best one was going to be playing. It doesn’t mean it was bad for them (if they aren’t playing), they are still helping on the bench cheering and being positive and when they get their chance they went in and did a good job. “When Julia went down everyone was super worried but I knew we would get the next person and they would be ready to play and that was definitely the highlight of the season.” THE MOMENT OF TRUTH Without Blyashov there was no doubt Cathedral Catholic’s depth would be tested in the state playoffs. First was Lakewood, then a rematch with Torrey Pines before facing Mira Costa in the semifinals. The Dons swept both Lakewood and Torrey Pines, but Mira Costa was on a different level and represented the toughest challenge yet. Mira Costa captured the Ann Kang Invitational and finished runner-up at the Nike TOC Southwest in October. Mira Costa

The national championship puzzle is almost complete. Top-ranked Cathedral Catholic (41-0) is one victory away from an undefeated season and with it being award vballrecruiter.com’s top honor for the high school season. Standing in the way is another undefeated team in St. Francis/Mountain View (34-0). The schools meet in Saturday’s California Open Division state championship match. It’s a slam dunk, no-brainer case if Cathedral Catholic wins out. Much like Marymount CA did a season ago in going undefeated and winning national championships from multiple publications. However, a question we’ve been pondering is what happens is St. Francis pulls off the upset and it is the Lancers going undefeated? Before exploring that in more depth, Cathedral Catholic dropped its first set of the season in beating Mira Costa, 25-20, 15-25, 25-14, 25-17, in Tuesday’s semifinal. It was a huge victory for the Dons considering it came without top player and Stanford signee Julia Blyashov sidelined because of a sprained ankle. We don’t know her availability for Saturday, but it certainly adds a storyline to the championship showdown if she’s unable to go. That Cathedral Catholic beat Mira Costa without Blyashov was as much of a statement victory an undefeated, top-ranked team could make. Mira Costa is arguably the second-best team in California based on overall results this season. So for the Dons to handle the Mustangs like they did without Blyashov shows the depth Cathedral has. As for St. Francis, the Lancers don’t have the strongest strength of schedule. They didn’t travel outside of California. They have beat nationally-ranked Archbishop Mitty five times, including in Tuesday’s state semifinals. If St. Francis were coming into this match with a loss on its record, we wouldn’t be having this discussion because there would be no argument for St. Francis. Yet, despite the strength of schedule issues, that could all possibly change Saturday evening with a victory over Cathedral Catholic. While we obviously know what happens in terms of our national champion if Cathedral Catholic wins, it’s less clear what should be done if St. Francis triumphs. We addressed this a few weeks back. St. Francis has the pieces to pull off the upset. Setter Havannah Hoeft runs an effective offense and has junior outsides Taylor Williams and Erin Curtis at her disposal. Junior Whitney Wallace is the libero. Going into this weekend’s CA state final, the way it looks from this perspective is only three schools have an argument to wind up No. 1 in our Top 50. Cathedral Catholic, St. Francis and Cornerstone Christian from Texas. Cornerstone is an interesting case because the standard for winning the national championship is the school must have won their respective state title. The catch with Cornerstone is Cornerstone is an independent school and doesn’t play in the TAPPS (private schools) state playoffs. A quick refresh on Cornerstone. The Warriors beat TAPPS 6A state champion Prestonwood Christian in the final of Volleypalooza in August. Cornerstone reached the final of the Nike TOC Southeast event, losing to Westminster Christian, and captured first place at the Nike TOC Southwest tournament. Cornerstone lost twice all season, to Westminster and to The Woodlands, a team Cornerstone beat. Cornerstone downed Mira Costa in the final of Nike TOC, and with Mira Costa being the only team to take a set off of Cathedral Catholic, it makes that victory look even more impressive now. That leads to if Cathedral loses which school deserves to replace Cathedral at No. 1 – Cornerstone or St. Francis? St. Francis, of course, would have enormous bragging rights having defeated Cathedral Catholic, and being the only school to do so on a stage like the CA state final certainly seems worthy of being No. 1. There doesn’t seem to be a stronger case from anyone else to climb ahead of any of these three schools. We mentioned Prestonwood winning TAPPS 6A and is currently ranked No. 4. But the loss to Cornerstone Christian would keep Prestonwood from ascending to No. 1. We really loved the season Hamilton Southeastern put together in winning the Indiana 4A state title. HSE sits at No. 3. The Royals lost just once all season – to McCutcheon and then beat McCutcheon in the postseason. There’s a case there but the Royals didn’t travel outside the state and wouldn’t have a victory on its schedule like St. Francis would by beating Cathedral Catholic. We also love the season engineered by Washburn Rural in winning the Kansas 6A state title. The Blues (45-1) lost just once this season, to 5A runner-up St. James Academy, while beating 6A champ Aquinas twice. It’s a mightily impressive season but not one that tops Cornerstone Christian’s in our opinion. Of course, we’ve had weeks to breakdown all these possible scenarios and have a really good idea of who would be No. 1 in any of the scenarios mentioned above. However, there would be no fun in sharing those conclusions now. We’ll see how Saturday plays out and Monday we’ll release the final Top 50 featuring our 2022 national champion!

The latest edition of our State Spotlights features Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Minnesota, Nevada and Ohio. Below we run through highlighting the respective champs from each of the seven states. ARIZONA Despite losing standout USC commit Jordan Middleton to graduation, Hamilton found its way back in the Arizona 6A state final and looking to spoil the time of top seed Corona del Sol. However, there’s a new champion in the conference as CdS fought past Hamilton in five sets, 19-25, 25-15, 22-25, 25-16, 15-6, on Saturday. Seniors Kierstyn Barton and Neomi Beach traded blows for their respective teams, as Barton posted 25 kills for CdS and Beach a match-high 26 for Hamilton. Sophomore Alyssa Aguayo and senior Ella Lomigora combined for 25 more kills for CdS (39-5), which defeated Hamilton at the Nike TOC Southwest tournament in their only prior meeting. Freshman libero Erin Clark made 35 saves and junior setter Julia Owens dished out 57 assists in the final for CdS, which is ranked No. 27 nationally in this week’s Top 50. As for Hamilton, freshman Mikayla Haner recorded 14 kills, senior setter Melia Barlow had 44 assists and senior libero Lauren Mullings tallied 30 digs. In 5A, Horizon and Millennium were 2-2 against each other before meeting for the state title to break the tie. Bragging rights go to Horizon, which pulled out the four-set victory, 23-23, 22-25, 28-26, 25-18. All three of Horizon’s victories over Millennium came with sophomore sensation Teraya Sigler in the lineup. Sigler – who sat out of the first half of the season after transferring – sent down 26 kills in the state final. Senior outside Kendal Murphy added 13 and senior middle GG Greenlee 10. Murphy also had 15 digs. Junior Ryder Blackburn and sophomore Avery Ashcraft teamed for 48 assists. Millennium beat 6A runner-up Hamilton this season and returns plenty to take another shot at the 5A title next fall. While senior outside Eryn Jones graduates, juniors Anne Brauckmiller, Talea Mitchell and Allison Wilson return, as does sophomore Gabbi Kucinski. 4A: Estrella Foothills d Arcadia 25-20, 25-18, 22-25, 25-22 3A: Snowflake d Northwest Christian 25-18, 25-23, 31-29 2A: Phoenix Country Day d St. Johns 17-25, 25-17, 25-17, 25-18 1A: Rock Point d Williams 25-16, 24-26, 22-25, 25-15, 15-11 *** COLORADO There was no denying Valor Christian, which completed an undefeated season by downing Rock Canyon in straight sets, 25-12, 25-19, 25-23, in the Colorado Class 5A state championship match Saturday. Valor Christian (29-0) dropped just four sets all season, including one against Rampart in the Eagles’ state semifinal victory. Valor Christian – which captured state last in 2018 – earned its most recent banner behind 32 combined kills in the final from seniors Erin McNair, Sasha Cohen and Skyla Morgan and junior Grace Langer. Junior libero Delaney Russell recorded 17 digs while sophomore setter Chloe Elarton finished with 29 assists. The Eagles are currently No. 23 in our latest Top 50 National Rankings. The biggest threat to Valor Christian’s perfect mark came against Fossil Ridge on Sept. 8. The Eagles needed five sets to prevail, the only time they went the distance. Valor Christian swept Fossil Ridge in the second round of the 5A state winner’s bracket. The only other opponent to garner a set from Valor Christian was Palmer Ridge. Rock Canyon (24-5) was boosted this season by the play of sophomore outside Alivia Eikenberg. She led the team in kills and was second in digs. She’ll be back next along with junior libero Ava Blanco and junior setter Addie Waller. Class 4A: Thompson Valley d Windsor 25-23, 25-20, 25-21 Class 3A: Platte Valley d Lamar 28-30, 25-20, 25-21, 19-25, 16-14 Class 2A: Sedgwick County d Fowler 25-23, 24-26, 25-17, 25-21 Class 1A: Merino d Fleming 25-17, 25-21, 25-19 *** FLORIDA Venice (22-4) was too much for Hagerty in the Florida Class 7A state championship match on Saturday. Venice prevailed in four games, 21-25, 25-18, 25-20, 25-16, and earned its sixth state title overall. Venice was denied in last year’s semifinals by Plant, which was up 2-1 in this season’s state quarterfinals over Venice before Venice rallied to win in five. Senior setter Ashley Reynolds amassed 44 assists and sophomore outside Summer Kohler posted 19 kills in the state final victory. Hilary Hupp and Leah Bartlett combined for 23 more kills. Hagerty was led by senior outside Brooke Stephens, who had a match-high 20 kills. Junior Abby Mas and freshman Jenness Orcutt teamed for 23 kills behind Stephens. It was a challenging season for Venice off the court, as the Indians had to cancel six matches due to Hurricane Ian. The team didn’t play from Sept. 22 until Oct. 11, when Venice suffered a three-game loss to Cardinal Mooney. The Indians didn’t lose again, winning their final 10 matches. The 6A state final went down to the wire, with New Smyrna Beach (25-2) avoiding a surprising loss by fending off Viera in five sets, 23-25, 25-15, 25-18, 19-25, 16-14. New Smyrna Beach was 2-0 against Viera previously this season and had only lost to Plant and Westminster Christian, which we’ll have more on from the 3A state final. Senior Madelyn Peterson had a huge outing, dropping 25 kills and hitting .449 to lead the Barracudas. Senior outsides Jalynn Brown (17 kills) and Eden Anderson (12) also reached double-digit kills. Junior senior Alyssa Kornegay racked up 58 assists and junior libero Ivy Westfall made 29 digs. Senior Mak Carter and junior Sophia Jones combined for 26 kills for Viera. Santa Fe (30-2) defeated Academy of Holy Names in four, 25-13, 21-25, 25-12, 25-14, to finish on top of the 4A state playoff brackets. Senior S/RS Jalyn Stout went off for Santa Fe, producing 29 kills (.551), 17 digs and 13 assists in the victory. Senior libero Miya Thomas put up 23 digs. Eighth-grader Sophia Puleo was the only player in double-digit kills for Holy Names with 10. As we touched on in our Top 50 HS National Rankings intro, there

First and foremost, we want to give a huge shout out to the Division 1 champion Christ Academy and Division 2 champion Ovilla Christian High School. I unfortunately did not have a chance to catch these matches since I drove down Friday morning (and these matches were played on Thursday). On Friday, I was able to make the 6A semifinal matches featuring Prestonwood Christian Academy vs Parish Episcopal and Antonian Prep vs Bishop Lynch. First up was the PCA vs Epicopal match. PCA came into the match as the No. 5 ranked program in our vballrecruiter.com Top 50 HS National Rankings. The national powerhouse program swept the match (25-14, 25-15, 25-19) behind junior USC commit and outside Hitter Jadyn Livings, junior Michigan commit and setter Camille Edwards, junior TCU commit and outside hitter Mikala Young, 5-star outside hitter Cari Spears, 5-star libero Gillian Pitts, junior 4-star middle blocker Kennedy Washington and sophomore 4-star setter Taylor Cook. Episcopal was led by senior UCLA beach signee and setter Harper Cooper, senior libero Fiona Kelly, senior outside hitter Sarah Pickett and sophomore 3-star middle blocker Reese Jackson. The connection between Cooper and Jackson was very effective.  The second 6A semifinal was between Antonian Prep and Bishop Lynch, which ended up with the sweep 25-16, 25-20, 25-22. Bishop Lynch was led by senior Providence College signee and middle blocker Lyric Berry, senior Arizona beach signee outside hitter Ashlyn Zilliken, senior UWash signee and outside hitter Leah Oyewole, junior Arkansas commit and outside hitter Lauryn Lambert, junior Brown commit and opposite Paloma Gonzalez, junior setter Cate Hatfield, junior defensive specialist Delaney Moon and sophomore 4-star libero Maddie Smotherman. Antonian Prep was scrappy as heck and was led by senior libero Incarnate Word signee Hailey Garza, senior outside hitter Sujeili Mermella, senior middle blocker Sydney Barber, senior setter Jaiden Lavanway, senior setter Desiree Camargo and junior 4-star outside hitter Kalina Calvillo.  After watching the semifinals, I headed over to the other location for the 3-5A finals. First up was Round Rock Christian Academy vs Dallas Lutheran. RRCA captured the state title in four sets, 23-25, 25-13, 25-17, 25-19. RRCA was led by senior outside hitter Ryann Holley, senior setter Reagan Sawyer, senior outside hitter Savannah Johnson and senior UMHB beach signee and libero Kelli Northup. Dallas Lutheran was led by senior Texas A&M-Corpus Christi beach signee Millie Olsson, Lauren Pittman and Ava Pope.  Next up was the 4A state title match between Grace Prep Academy and Brentwood Christian. Talk about a nail biter! GPA defeated Brentwood in five, 21-25, 25-20, 25-20, 14-25, 15-12. GPA was led by senior middle blocker Lacy Young, junior 4-star libero Savanna Stevens, junior outside hitter Maya Kelly and junior outside hitter Kalli Smith. Brentwood Christian was led by senior outside hitter Ashlynn Alvarado, junior libero Aubrey Acheson and freshman outside hitter Claire Montgomery.  The last match on Friday night was the 5A state title match between Liberty Christian School and Fort Bend Christian Academy. Liberty Christian defeated Fort Bend Christian in four, 25-18, 16-25, 25-20, 25-21. Liberty Christian was led by senior Houston signee and setter Reagan Fifer, senior middle blocker Austen Goodgion, junior outside hitter Tally Grissom, sophomore 4-star opposite Naya Salfiti and sophomore libero Quinnly Heinsen. Fort Bend was led by senior setter Emma Pekar, junior outside hitter Cambry Gerardi, 5-star middle blocker Bayleigh Minor and sophomore outside hitter Layne Bulow.  On Saturday, the final state title match was played when Prestonwood Christian squared off against Bishop Lynch for the 6A championship. These two teams had already met twice this season and PCA defeated BL in five and four games, respectively. Needless to say both squads knew their opponents well. And the same stars shined in this title match. PCA ended up sweeping BL, 25-20, 25-19, 25-20, to capture the 6A title. And let me tell you there was some incredible volleyball played on both sides of the court!  Show Stoppers Ryann Holley SR OH – Round Rock Christian Savannah Johnson SR OH – Round Rock Christian Millie Olsson SR OH – Dallas Lutheran (TAMCC Beach Signee) Aubrey Acheson JR L – Brentwood Christian Savanna Stevens JR L – Grace Prep Academy  Maya Kelly JR OH – Grace Prep Academy  Bayleigh Minor SO MB – Fort Bend Christian Emma Pekar SR S/Opp – Fort Bend Christian Tally Grissom JR OH – Liberty Christian Reagan Fifer SR S/Opp – Liberty Christian (Houston Signee) Naya Salfiti SO Opp – Liberty Christian Lauryn Lambert JR OH – Bishop Lynch (Arkansas Commit) Leah Oyewole SR Opp – Bishop Lynch (UWash Signee) Lyric Berry SR MB – Bishop Lynch (Providence College) Paloma Gonzalez JR Opp – Bishop Lynch (Brown Commit) Jadyn Livings JR OH – Prestonwood Christian (USC Commit) Mikala Young JR OH – Prestonwood Christian (TCU Commit) Camille Edwards JR S – Prestonwood Christian (Michigan Commit) Macaria Spears SO OH – Prestonwood Christian Gillian Pitts SO L – Prestonwood Christian Harper Cooper SR S/Opp – Parish Episcopal (UCLA Beach Commit) Hailey Garza SR L – Antonian Prep (Incarnate Word Signee)

Another week, another Top-10 school upset. So is goes during the state playoffs. After seeing little movement at the top of the rankings in the closing weeks of the regular season, we’ve seen plenty happen the past couple weeks of the playoffs. Also, this is the last weekly updated of the national rankings. With all states concluding play this week, we’ll release our final national rankings featuring our national champion next week! The inside track to the national championship still belongs to Cathedral Catholic CA, which remains undefeated and has still not lost a set! The Dons defeated Torrey Pines for the third time this season in the CA Open Division playoffs Saturday night and host No. 6 Mira Costa in the state semifinals on Tuesday. The winner of that match faces the winner of No. 13 St. Francis/Mountain View and No. 47 Archbishop Mitty in Saturday’s state final. Like Cathedral Catholic, St. Francis remains undefeated, keeping alive the possibility of an undefeated showdown for not only the CA state championship but the top spot in the country potentially. Mira Costa shows how our national rankings work when it comes to the state playoffs. Mira Costa lost to Sierra Canyon in the sectional final a week before topping Sierra Canyon in five games in the second round of the state playoffs this past Saturday. The state playoffs take precedent and no team can be ranked higher than a team it lost to in the state playoffs, so Mira Costa moves back ahead of Sierra Canyon this week. We already have seen that hard line keep some powerhouse schools out of the Top 50. Last week, it was Oconomowoc losing in the Wisconsin Division 1 final to Divine Savior Holy Angels and falling out of the rankings. We also saw Dike-New Hartford drop out of the Top 50 after losing the Iowa Class 2 state title, as well as Jesuit, which was undefeated before losing in the Oregon state final and dropping out of the Top 50. The big news in this week’s updated Top 50 is then-No. 2 Westminster Christian being swept by Clearwater Central Christian in the Florida 3A state championship Saturday. It was the only loss of the season for the Warriors (27-1). Westminster Christian had ascended the rankings on the strength of beating Cornerstone Christian TX in the final of the Nike TOC Southeast tournament in early September. Given Cornerstone’s success and the fact Westminster Christian hadn’t loss was justification for Westminster being ranked so high. However, after the loss to Clearwater Central the Warriors tumbled out of this week’s Top 50. Clearwater Central doesn’t have a strong enough case based on its season’s results to make the Top 50, even with a big victory over Westminster. So the Warriors are out of the Top 50. Whether one agrees that is fair or not, we have the state playoffs as the top factor because schools train and prepare all year in order to make the state playoffs and succeed. It’s why Highland Park TX is out of the Top 50. Highland Park was No. 6 nationally last week but was upset by Guyer in its chase for a state bid. Given Guyer’s track record this season – which isn’t as strong as it could’ve been with senior stud Kyndal Stowers missing more than half of the season – Guyer won’t make the Top 50 and thus Highland Park is out even though Highland Park is clearly one of the Top 50 teams in the country this fall. The state playoff rule is a hard rule that won’t be broken, even if it creates situations like the one Highland Park is in. We’ll have more later this week on the state results from last week, including Mother McAuley winning the Illinois Class 4 state title and climbing into the Top 10 this week as a result. With Prestonwood Christian TX winning the TAPPS 6A state title, the only teams in the Top 10 still playing out their seasons are Cathedral Catholic, Mira Costa and Marian, which is alive for the Michigan state title this week. vballrecruiter.com TOP 50 1. Cathedral Catholic CA (1 – last week’s ranking) 2. Cornerstone Christian TX (3) 3. Hamilton Southeastern IN (4) 4. Prestonwood Christian TX (5) 5. Washburn Rural KS (7) 6. Mira Costa CA (10) 7. Marian MI (9) 8. Mother McAuley IL (18) 9. Sierra Canyon CA (8) 10. Yorktown IN (12) *** 11. Aquinas KS (13) 12. McCutcheon IN (14) 13. St. Francis/Mountain View CA (15) 14. Lafayette MO (17) 15. Marymount CA (16) 16. Santa Fe FL (19) 17. St. James Academy KS (20) 18. Papillion-LaVista South NE (21) 19. Liberty North MO (22) 20. Fayetteville AR (23) *** 21. ‘Iolani HI (24) 22. Ursuline Academy OH (25) 23. Valor Christian CO (26) 24. Magnificat OH (27) 25. Brebeuf Jesuit IN (28) 26. Liberty MO (29) 27. Corona del Sol AZ (33) 28. Millbrook NC (32) 29. Notre Dame Academy KY (34) 30. Marist IL (44) *** 31. North Raleigh Christian Academy NC (35) 32. Eureka MO (36) 33. Assumption KY (38) 34. Flint Hill VA (39) 35. Torrey Pines CA (42) 36. Benet Academy IL (50) 37. Lakewood CA (40) 38. Mater Dei CA (30) 39. Horizon AR (n/r) 40. Timpview UT (41) *** 41. Venice FL (n/r) 42. Millennium AR (37) 43. Cleveland TN (43) 44. Barrington IL (11) 45. Palos Verdes CA (45) 46. Mountain View UT (46) 47. Archbishop Mitty CA (47) 48. St. Ursula Academy OH (48) 49. Bountiful UT (49) 50. Tompkins TX (n/r) Out: Highland Park TX; Plano West TX; Westminster Christian FL In: Horizon AZ; Tompkins TX; Venice FL *** HONORABLE MENTION Clearwater Central Catholic FL Westminster Christian FL Benton AR Divine Savior Holy Angels WI Oconomowoc WI Cypress Ranch TX Omaha Westside NE Lincoln Southwest NE Western Christian IO Dike-New Hartford IO Jesuit OR Sheldon OR Middle Creek NC Punahou HI Reagan NC North Gwinnett GA Redondo Union

The latest edition of our State Spotlights features Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina and Wisconsin. Below we run through highlighting the respective champs from each of the six states. MISSOURI Lafayette (32-6) finished its season on a 21-match winning streak after defeating Kickapoo in four sets, 25-19, 24-26, 25-10, 25-17, to capture the Class 5 state championship. The Lancers had one of the more interesting seasons for a state champion so far. We had Lafayette – currently sitting at No. 17 – ranked in the Top 20 heading into the Nike TOC Southeast tournament in Tampa Bay. It started off well as the under-seeded Lancers upset top seed Ponte Vedra FL in the first match. Tampa Prep FL was the only school to defeat Lafayette that weekend. The following weekend is when the rough patch started as Lafayette lost four consecutive matches and five of eight during one stretch and fell out of the Top 50. The four straight came to tough schools in St. Teresa’s Academy, Skutt Catholic NE, Aquinas KS and Eureka. Aquinas eventually claimed the Kansas 5A state title and Skutt the Nebraska Class B crown. The choppy waters finally calmed after a loss to Nixa. That came in straight sets on Sept. 23. The Lancers didn’t lose again. It included avenging a loss to Eureka, as well as defeating Liberty and Liberty North (twice). In terms of what’s back next season for the Lancers, it’s a mixed bag. Kill leader and sophomore outside Maya Witherspoon is among those returning. She had 339 kills and averaged 3.2 per set. Junior outside Allison Risley (2.6 kills per set) joins her, as does junior setter Alyssa Nelson. The Lancers will miss the production of senior outside Caitlyn Little. The trio of Witherspoon, Risley and Little combined for 43 kills in the final’s victory against Kickapoo. Class 4: Westerminster Christian d Incarnate Word Academy 25-21, 17-25, 25-19, 25-23 Class 3: Blair Oaks d Pleasant Hill 25-15, 25-8, 25-23 Class 2: Jefferson d Hermann 16-25, 25-23, 25-22, 25-19 Class 1: Advance d Miller 11-25, 25-15, 21-25, 25-9, 15-12 *** NEBRASKA Papillion-LaVista South went 4-0 against Omaha Westside this season. The latest was the most important, as it came in the Class A state championship. The Titans (34-5) swept, 25-23, 20-25, 25-15, 25-17. Omaha Westside upset then-No. 20 Lincoln Southwest in the semifinals. That kept a third meeting between Papillion-LaVista South and Lincoln Southwest from taking place. Papillion-LaVista South was 0-2 against Lincoln Southwest this fall. Top-ranked Cathedral Catholic CA and St. James Academy KS also picked up victories over the Titans this fall, as did Millard West, which Papillion-LaVista South went 2-1 against. The 1-2 punch of junior Lauren Medeck and senior Stella Adeyemi on the outside carried the offense. The duo combined for over 750 kills. They hooked up for 46 in the state final. Senior libero Kenzie Dyrstad averaged 4.4 digs per set. While she’ll be gone next season, joining Medeck in returning is sophomore setter Charlee Solomon and junior setter Kyla Dyrstad. The setting duo had nearly 1,100 assists combined this fall. Omaha Westside went 1-2 against Lincoln Southwest in the regular season. However, the Warriors couldn’t break through against Papillion-LaVista South in the final despite Destiny Ndam-Simpson and Samantha Laird teaming up for 45 kills. The Warriors say goodbye to the senior teammates who combined for over 950 kills this fall. At some point Skutt Catholic’s reign in Class B will end but it’ll last at least another year after fending off Elkhorn North in five sets, 25-20, 23-25, 14-25, 25-16, 15-11, in the championship match for the program’s eighth consecutive state title. Skutt (32-10) and Elkhorn North (32-5) did not play during the regular season. Seniors Morgan Burke and Ivy Leuck were difference makers in the final as they teamed up for 32 kills. It helped offset 28 from senior Grace Heaney for Elkhorn North. Skutt had one of the more impressive schedules around the nation. In addition to the tough home state action, the Skyhawks traveled to the Nike Southeast TOC in Tampa Bay. There, they picked up a victory over eventual Georgia 7A state champ Buford. Skutt also owns a victory over Missouri Class 4 state champ Lafayette, as well as Wisconsin Division 1 state champ Division Savior Holy Angels. Skutt lost twice to Kansas 5A state champ Aquinas and another time to Mother McAuley, which is still alive in the Illinois state playoffs. Class C1: Grand Island Central Catholic d Gothenburg 25-12, 23-25, 25-17, 25-17 Class C2: Lincoln Lutheran d Archbishop Bergan 25-18, 25-22, 25-15 Class D1: Cedar Catholic d Norfolk Catholic 26-24, 20-25, 25-17, 18-25, 15-8 Class D2: Howells-Dodge d Overton 25-16, 24-26, 22-25, 25-23, 15-12 *** NORTH CAROLINA Millbrook (29-1) did not get an opportunity to avenge its only loss of the season, but nevertheless the Wildcats rolled to the 4A state championship with a straight-set victory over Sun Valley, 25-21, 25-14, 25-12. Middle Creek spoiled Millbrook’s shot at an undefeated season with its victory against the Wildcats on Sept. 19. Millbrook and Middle Creek could’ve met in the state semifinals but Cardinal Gibbons took out Middle Creek in five sets to prevent that from happening. Instead, Millbrook went five with Cardinal Gibbons before reaching the final. Opponents aren’t going to like the fact that the Wildcats return their top five kill leaders to take another shot at it next fall. They are junior Kiarrah Horne, sophomore BreAnna McMillan, sophomore Harper Nelson, junior Avery Grantham and sophomore Micah McKenzie. McMillan also shared setting duties with senior Hannah Morrow. Sun Valley (29-3) had only sustained losses to Marvin Ridge and Chapel Hill during the regular season. Chapel Hill was the top seed for the state playoffs but was upset by Cardinal Gibbons in Round 3. Sun Valley relied heavily on senior attackers Aaliyah Mitchell and Hailey Pearce, as well as senior setter Amaya Hall. Junior middle Kyra Joy Arnold and freshman right side Riley Parker do return though for

This edition of our State Spotlights features Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Georgia and Kentucky. Below we run through highlighting the respective champs from each state. ARKANSAS Catching up from the state playoffs from two weekends ago, Fayetteville (36-2) had already made a huge splash this fall by finishing third at the Durango Fall Classic in September, picking up victories over schools like Torrey Pines CA, Redondo Union CA and Hawaii Division 1 state champion ‘Iolani. The Bulldogs’ run ended in the semifinals to Marymount CA, which like Torrey Pines is still alive in the CA Open Division state playoffs entering Tuesday. The only team outside of Marymount to get the better of Fayetteville this season was Liberty North MO, which reached the semifinals of the 4A Missouri state playoffs before falling to eventual champ Lafayette MO. Fayetteville’s performance in Las Vegas was bolstered by its recent Arkansas 6A state championship, which it brought home after topping Southside, 25-19, 25-21, 25-18, two weekends in the final. Currently, Fayetteville is No. 23 in our national rankings. We’ll have to wait a couple more weeks to see where they settle but it’ll be in that range. The Bulldogs feature Under Armour All-American and Florida State recruit Kennedy Phelan. The 5-star setter averaged 9.5 assists per set and led the way with 80 aces. She was helped out big-time by Stanford beach recruit and senior outside Brooke Rockwell. Rockwell finished with 512 kills, averaging 5.2 per set and hitting .314 on the season. Southside (31-8) upset Conway (31-4) in the semifinals. Southside figures to be strong against next fall as it returns its top three kill leaders from this season in sophomore middle Lydia Pitts, junior middle Sophia Neighouse and sophomore outside Gabriela Dupree returning. Benton (34-1) ended a nearly perfect season by sweeping Valley View (29-5) in the 5A championship. Benton’s only setback came in its final outing of the regular season when it fell to eventual 6A semifinalist Conway in four sets. Benton defeated Conway early in the season, as well as picking up a victory over 6A runner up Southside. Senior outside Abigail Lagemann was instrumental to the success this season. She led the team in both kills (324) and digs (266) while hitting .332. She was also third in blocks. Micah McMillan, a senior setter and hitter, was a key piece of the puzzle for the Blazers. She ended with 352 kills and 322 assists. Class 4A: Brookland d Shiloh Christian 25-20, 25-19, 25-16 Class 3A: Baptist Prep d Hackett 25-16, 25-22, 25-22 Class 2A: Mansfield d Lavaca 25-16, 25-15, 25-16 *** GEORGIA In the biggest class, 7A, it was Buford (38-5) earning a nail-biting thriller over Lambert (36-8) in five, 22-25, 25-18, 25-15, 23-25, 19-17, on Saturday! The schools met way back in August in tournament play, with Buford sweeping that one. The latest Wolves’ victory made it three 7A titles in a row and it took fighting off two match points in Game 5 to make it happen. If Buford is to run it back for a fourth time next fall the Wolves will do so without their top two kill leaders from this year in Ashley Sturzoiu and Sydney Austin, plus setter Polly Cummings. Coming back though is freshman outside Clara Briley, who was third in kills, and junior middle Payton Danley. Earlier this season Buford traveled to the Nike TOC Southeast event in Tampa Bay, arriving in our Top 50 Rankings. However, losses to Venice FL, Lake Brantley FL and Skutt Catholic NE bumped the Wolves from the Top 50. Buford had been the only school to defeat North Gwinnett during the regular season. North Gwinnett had worked its way into the Top 50 but fell out when it went down to Buford again in the state semifinals. Lambert reached the showdown with Buford on a 19-match winning streak, including downing Walton in the semifinals. The Longhorns’ last lost before the state final came against Jasper on Sept. 3. Lambert goes into the offseason knowing three key pieces return. One is kill leader and junior Molly Kate Patten. The 6-6, 4-star Georgia commit finished with 314 kills and hit .453 on the year to go with 82 blocks. Also back is sophomore libero Francesca Popescu and freshman S/RS Kalyssa Taggart. Popescu averaged 4.6 digs per set. Taggart was solid all-around, recording 245 digs, hitting .322 with 497 assists and averaging 1.6 digs per set. The 6A final also went the distance as Pope (45-5) flipped the script and rallied past Sequoyah, 21-25, 20-25, 25-20, 25-16, 15-12. Both were 6A powerhouses this fall, with a prior meeting going to Pope in four sets back in late August. Sophie-Kate Harvey was clutch for Pope in the rematch. The 6-1 junior outside hurt Sequoyah with 25 kills and helped offset a combined 35 winners from seniors Sara Siefert and Sydney Huyck for Sequoyah. Pope is likely to be the team to beat once more in 6A next fall. The Greyhounds return Harvey plus sophomore middle Ellis Crawford, junior setter Cooper Abney and junior libero Dayla Ortiz. The 4A championship match ended with Pace Academy (42-1) sweeping Lovett, 25-11, 25-23, 25-20, for its sixth consecutive state title. Juniors Grace Agolli and Ellie Siskin teamed up for 32 kills to lead the Knights to victory. Freshman Olivia Siskin had 21 assists while Agolli added 14. Freshman Gabby Emch had a match-high 16 digs. Junior Emma Duffield led Lovett with 15 kills. Pope, the 7A champion, was the only school to defeat Pace this fall. Class 5A: Greater Atlanta Christian d Chattahoochee 21-25, 26-24, 26-24, 25-19 Class 3A: Morgan County d Oconee County 25-23, 19-25, 20-25, 25-16, 15-12 Class 2A: Mount Paran Christian d Landmark Christian 25-13, 25-18, 25-19 Class 1A: Tallulah Falls d Mt. Bethel Christian 25-20, 25-27, 25-14, 25-20 *** INDIANA The Class 4A state playoffs in Indiana was one of the better races to follow along this postseason. At one point this season the state was in serious play