Let’s whip around and tour parts of the country to see where matters stand on both national and state stages. We begin at the very top of our Top 50 HS National Rankings, where undefeated Cathedral Catholic CA (35-0) remains No. 1. The Dons have the inside track to the national championship, a feat they can accomplish by winning out. To get to the finish line unscathed, Cathedral Catholic needs to win three matches in the San Diego sectional playoffs then another four in the CA Open Division state playoffs.
Speaking of the CA state playoffs, there’s an interesting scenario developing in the Open Division in regards to the national championship. As mentioned above, the national championship is Cathedral Catholic’s if it finishes the season undefeated. But what if the Dons don’t?
Westminster Christian FL is sitting at No. 2 and would have a strong argument. The Warriors (24-0) are also looking to finish the year unbeaten and are in the midst of the Florida 3A state playoffs. Westminster faces Riviera Prep in second-round action Friday. After that one, the Warriors would need three more victories to win the state championship. That achievement combined with Westminster’s victory over No. 3 Cornerstone Christian TX in the finals of the Nike TOC Southwest tournament in September makes for a strong case for the Warriors to finish on top should Cathedral Catholic stumble.
Should somehow Cathedral Catholic and Westminster Christian both lose, that would open the door for Cornerstone Christian to finish No. 1. The Warriors have played arguably the strongest schedule in the nation and went 55-2. One defeat was to Westminster as stated. The other was to The Woodlands, a squad Cornerstone has also defeated.
Since Cornerstone’s season is over, there is only one more scenario where a school outside the Top 3 can make a convincing enough case to finish No. 1. That brings us back to the CA state playoffs.
St. Francis/Mountain View CA (28-0) is ranked No. 20 nationally and remains undefeated after narrowly clipping No. 48 Archbishop Mitty in five sets, 21-25, 26-24, 25-20, 19-25, 20-18, Monday. The Lancers don’t have the strongest strength of schedule or they would be ranked higher. However, that could all change.
It’s possible St. Francis could make it to the Open Division state final and face off with top-ranked Cathedral Catholic. That match would take place Nov. 19 and have huge national title implications. Because what if St. Francis upset Cathedral Catholic and finished undefeated? The Lancers would be the only school to defeat the Dons and that could very well be enough to lift the Lancers to the No. 1 spot should it happen.
St. Francis could face Archbishop Mitty twice more before getting that far. Once in the Central Coast sectional playoffs and again in the state playoffs.
Stay tuned.
***
One state already wrapped up its playoffs – Tennessee. Cleveland (49-5) captured the Division 1 Class 3A state championship, defeating Collierville (37-10) in the final, 25-21, 25-14, 25-20. Knoxville Catholic and Nolensville were the two culprits for Cleveland, which went 2-5 combined against the two schools. Nolensville was upset by Ravenwood in the regional playoffs, while Knoxville Catholic lost to Baylor in the semifinals of the Division 2 Class 2A state playoffs.
It was the 1-2 punch of sophomore outside Lauren Hurst and senior outside Addison Hurst who proved to be the biggest detriment to opponents. The pair combined for 1,250 kills and 730 digs. Lauren Hurst led the team with 61 blocks. We wrote about setter Kinslee McGowan in our 25 Junior Show Stoppers released this week. She dished out 1,256 assists and led the team in aces with 131.
At one point, the Blue Raiders were 27-1 after losing their second outing of the season to Knoxville Catholic. But then they lost three times in six matches before finishing out the season 19-1. Among their victories this season included beating Briarcrest Christian, which claimed the Division 2 Class 2A state championship.
Briarcrest (37-6) swept Baylor, 25-19, 25-22, 25-14, in the final. The Saints had lost to Knoxville Catholic during the season but beat the Fighting Irish in the opening round of the state playoffs. Senior outside Kendall Barnes led the team in kills with 396, averaging 3.8 per set and hitting .333. Senior setter Ashley Pruitt, who averaged 10.3 assists per set, also relied on senior outside Emma Haddix (2.6 kills per set) and senior middle Kynedi Jennings (2.2).
***
By the end of the week we’ll know the Kansas state champions. The two-day event takes place Oct. 28-29. National No. 9 Washburn Rural is the top seed in Class 6A. National No. 14 St. Thomas Aquinas is the No. 1 overall seed in Class 5A, which also features national No. 25 St. James Academy as the No. 2 seed.
Washburn Rural has faced both top seeds in 5A this season, going 2-0 against Aquinas and 0-1 against St. James. Aquinas is 1-0 against St. James. It’ll be interesting to see how the final two days plays out and how to break down which school was the best in the state this fall.
***
The Indiana state playoffs are nearing their conclusion as well. The Class 4A semifinals are set for Saturday and feature national No. 4 Hamilton Southeastern against Lake Central in one half and national No. 13 Yorktown facing Floyd Central in the other. The final is Nov. 5.
The quarterfinals featured one of the biggest clashes of the season when Hamilton Southeastern eliminated then-No. 3 McCutcheon, 16-25, 25-21, 25-18, 25-19. Senior outside Avery Hobson, junior outside Lauren Harden and junior middle Breonna Goss combined for 35 kills for the Royals in that victory. McCutcheon is the only team to defeat HSE (32-1) so far. The recent victory propelled HSE to No. 4 nationally while dropping McCutcheon to No. 17.
A rematch in the final between HSE and Yorktown would be something. HSE defeated Yorktown in five sets, 25-19, 25-17, 14-25, 23-25, 15-10, on Sept. 6. Yorktown (33-2) has already avenged one of its two losses this fall when it defeated Brebeuf Jesuit in the regional semifinals. You know the Tigers would love to avenge another one against HSE for the state championship. What an exciting scenario that would make for.
***
The Georgia state playoffs are on the same schedule, with the semifinals taking place this Saturday and the finals scheduled for Nov. 5. In Class 7A, national No. 26 North Gwinnett (42-1) has a rematch with Buford (36-5) in one semifinal. Buford is the only opponent to beat North Gwinnett. The winner of that one faces the winner of Walton and Lambert in the other semifinal.
The 6A semifinals has Pope and Johns Creek in one half and North Forsyth and Sequoyah in the other. Pope is 2-0 against Johns Creek and 1-0 against Sequoyah. Pope did play teams from 7A semis this fall, going 1-1 against Buford, 1-0 against Lambert and 0-1 against North Gwinnett.
That’s one fun part of the state playoffs like this in that it helps to stir debate on which team is the best in the state. There’s a chain of events that could lead to Pope having the strongest argument.
Like most all states, Georgia has multiple divisions or classes at the state level. Mount Paran Christian and North Cobb Christian could be set for their fourth meeting of the season. Both are in the Class 2A semifinals and could face off next Saturday in the final. Mount Paran is 3-0 against North Cobb so far.
Pace Academy (40-1) is among the four teams remaining in 4A. The Knights take on Trinity Christian (19-18) in one semifinal. In the other Lovett plays Whitewater.
***
The Missouri Class 5 field is set, with the quarterfinals getting underway on Saturday. The semifinals are Nov. 3-4. The bracket looks like this:
- Jackson v Lafayette
- St. Teresa’s v Liberty North
- St. Joseph’s St. Dominic
- Rock Bridge v Kickapoo
Lafayette is ranked No. 23 nationally and has been on a hot streak lately with an 18-match winning streak. It includes defeating national No. 36 Eureka in the district finals to reach state. Lafayette lost to Eureka during a four-match losing streak in mid-September.
Another big district final result was national No. 44 Liberty North topping national No. 28 Liberty to make the final eight. Liberty downed Liberty North in five games in late September as the Blue Jays end the year 35-3.
***
The Hawaii state finals are Friday. The Division 1 semifinals happen Thursday. National No. 19 ‘Iolani plays Milliani while Kahuku faces Kamehameha/Hawaii.
