That is “Dots,” VolleyballMag.com’s weekly take a look at 10 issues in highschool volleyball, previous or current, that curiosity me and hopefully will curiosity you. Search for Dots each Tuesday till the final highschool state championship in November:
• Final Tuesday noticed the primary launch of what’s anticipated to be a number of entities trying nationwide highschool staff rankings this fall. Scorebook Reside was first to publish in its preliminary try to cowl the scene nationally.
As somebody who ranked groups nationally for greater than 20 years, I can say definitively that it’s higher to be thorough than quick. Scorebook Reside’s preliminary try at rankings lack one most important ingredient: EFFORT to make the pre-season checklist as correct as potential.
Exhibit A: San Antonio’s Cornerstone Christian is listed as No. 1 with an 8-0 document though the Warriors LOST to California Mira Costa THREE DAYS earlier than the rankings had been launched!
Exhibit B: Kansas’ Washburn Rural, Arkansas’ Fayetteville and Indiana’s McCutcheon all made the highest 25 though all three graduated generational skills.
Certainly, what Scorebook Reside’s rating seems to be is a regurgitation of final yr’s standout groups with out regard to the influence of commencement, transfers, membership success or younger expertise on these rosters. That’s a disgrace, when a little bit little bit of effort may have produced a way more credible checklist …
• Florida’s Viera Excessive opened its 2023 season with a 25-19, 25-21, 25-14 sweep by the hands of Osceola. Viera is the 2022 6A runner up, whereas Osceola made it to the semifinals of the 7A event.
Cate Palmi, who averaged nearly six kills per set final yr as a freshman final yr, had 22 kills for the victorious Kowboys, whereas Alex Liggeri chipped in with 40 assists.
What makes this outcome much more attention-grabbing is that Izzy Starck, a 6-2 senior S/OH dedicated to Penn State, and the reigning Colorado Participant of the Yr, transferred to Viera for her senior season after her father took a job in Florida. Starck didn’t play within the match, nonetheless, as she is at present competing with the USA U21 Ladies’s Nationwide Staff on the World Championships in Mexico.
Starck ought to slot in effectively with a Viera staff that graduated each its kill leaders however returns everybody else. Starck, who performed for Rampart in Colorado Springs final fall, intends to enroll early at Penn State after the autumn semester is full.
• The following large nationwide event takes place beginning Thursday in Texas close to Austin and it’s BIG, with 68 groups beginning over 17 swimming pools. The 2022 champions, Cornerstone Christian, aren’t make to defend, however 2021 champion Mater Dei of California and 2022 nationwide champion Cathedral Catholic of San Diego will make the trek to tackle lots of the finest groups from the Lone Star State. TAPPS 6A reigning champion Prestonwood Christian Academy is the event’s high seed and lots of in the latest TGCA 6A rankings, together with No. 1 Grand Oaks, No. 2 Lake Travis and No. 3 Dripping Springs, may also be within the area.
Prestonwood has been described as maybe one of the best staff ever from the Dallas space. Grand Oaks’ roster consists of MB Jaela Auguste and OHs Halle Thompson and Samara Coleman. Lake Travis (18-2) is coming off of a title final weekend on the New Braunfels Fraulein Volleyfest. Dripping Springs boasts the nation’s high sophomore OH, Henley Anderson.
• Logan Bell is a proficient junior outdoors hitter for Roncalli of Indianapolis who has dedicated to the College of Arizona to play each indoor and seaside volleyball. In June, Bell’s dad and mom sought steering from the Indiana Excessive Faculty Athletic Affiliation whether or not her participation in summer season and fall seaside volleyball tournaments may have an effect on her eligibility for the autumn indoor season. Indiana prohibits any organized non-school sports activities competitors in the course of the approved contest season.
The Bells argued that indoor volleyball and seaside volleyball are two distinct sports activities and, as a result of seaside volleyball is just not sanctioned by the IHSAA, the prohibition in opposition to competing in the course of the season of sport mustn’t apply to sand occasions. The IHSAA didn’t see it that approach, ruling that volleyball is volleyball similar to basketball is basketball, whether or not performed full court docket 5-on-5 or half court docket 3-on-3.
This ruling has drawn the ire of the volleyball neighborhood, which acknowledges that the 6 v. 6 indoor sport differs in materials respects from the two v. 2 recreation performed on sand. Certainly, when confronted with comparable requests, each the Ohio and Missouri state associations dominated the other of Indiana.
Certainly, the purported motive for Indiana having the rule within the first place is acknowledged in its participation “philosophy,” to wit, to discourage “the exploitation of pupil athletes by overzealous people and organizations who try to impose an obligation on the coed …”
When contemplating that the request to play seaside tournaments comes from Bell herself, the IHSAA seems to have issued this ruling with out regard to what triggered its enactment within the first place. Bell simply desires to maintain her seaside talent sharp, as that will likely be a giant a part of her life after highschool. It’s a disgrace that the IHSAA didn’t see match to rule the opposite approach.
The IHSAA didn’t reply to repeated makes an attempt to speak with it.
• Redondo Union, ranked eleventh in California, swept each state-ranked Lengthy Seashore Wilson and state-ranked La Canada on Saturday to seize the Tae Kim Lakewood/Molten Basic title. The Sea Hawks (4-0) obtained terrific setting from Madi Collins and pins Vic Henkel, Abby Zimmerman and Addy Benefield all hit .300 for the day.
“I used to be happy with our focus, execution, and total enthusiasm we had,” mentioned coach Tommy Chaffins. “We now have super depth in the entire positions, however the starters had been enjoying with such nice rhythm within the finals that we solely performed eight gamers.”
• In August, 2020, Hurricane Laura closely broken the campus at DeQuincy Excessive in Louisiana and destroyed the health club. Since then, getting the Tiger volleyball program on monitor has been a problem. The center faculty campus is about two miles away and had minimal harm, so the varsity has been sharing that health club the previous two seasons, till just lately when a congested schedule pushed the staff to the previous, time-worn apply health club on the varsity campus.
New head coach Taylor Istre has developed an “All Fuel, No Brakes” motto for the 2023 season, which will get underway subsequent week.
“We are going to push ahead whatever the apply surroundings, journey time, hurricane harm, and so forth.,” the coach mentioned. “Our staff is trying good. We now have 21 ladies and eight freshman, which has been a studying curve for me! I’m simply so pleased with them already.”
• Dorman of South Carolina gained the Byrnes Match this previous weekend. The Cavaliers, who went 6-0 behind senior hitter Carly O’Brien and sophomore setter Ramsey Chastain, are coming off a 31-win season the place they reached the state semifinals in 5A. Head coach Paula Kirkland is in her 42nd yr on the faculty and owns a profession document of 1053-166.
• Mammoth, a Golden State small-school energy, obtained its 2023 season off to an auspicious begin. In its very first set of the season final Friday, senior setter Madeline Le Francois served 24 straight factors, with eight aces, in a 25-0 win.
• After reaching the Georgia 3A finals for the primary time at school historical past final yr, Oconee County needed to change three starters (two first-team All-State gamers and a first-team All-Area center). This previous week, the Warriors performed within the State Finalist Playdate, which included 4 defending state champions. Although Oconee gained simply three of eight matches, the wins got here in opposition to the reigning 7A State Champion, Buford, reigning 5A State Champion Higher Atlanta Christian and reigning 2A State Champion Mt. Paran. Senior OH Bailey Bartlett hit .700 with seven kills within the 2-0 sweep of Mt. Paran.
Buford, by the way, is ranked No. 15 within the Scorebook Reside rankings. The Wolves are listed at 3-3 on the yr.
• California’s Indian Springs began the 2023 marketing campaign with three straight losses, however between Aug. 14 and Aug. 17 the Coyotes gained three matches in a row, marking the primary three-match profitable streak at school historical past! Junior OH Jizelle Castellanos had 30 aces for the week for Indiana Springs, which matched its win complete for all of final yr in a single superb four-day span.
Till subsequent time …