Early August Top 5 Rankings for Class A
First official practices of the 2019 high school volleyball season begin a week from yesterday and the first contests are now less than four weeks away. What, exactly, happened to summer? It feels like I spent my entire summer driving…
Access all of Prep Dig
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingFirst official practices of the 2019 high school volleyball season begin a week from yesterday and the first contests are now less than four weeks away. What, exactly, happened to summer?
It feels like I spent my entire summer driving the back roads of the state hitting as many team and individual camps as I could this summer, probably because that’s what I did. With that knowledge in hand, I give you a look at what I consider – right now – to the the top five teams in each class.
I will post the full top 10 in each class the weekend before the start of competition, but for now here is a look at the teams I would rank in the top 5 in Class A right now.
#1 – Papillion-LaVista
Papio won the Creighton Team Camp to kick off the summer despite not having either of its starting middles for that camp. And while the Monarchs didn’t win the UNO Team Camp – Millard South did – I still think Papio comes into the season as the most balanced and deepest team in Class A. There is no better outside hitter combination in Class A than Norah Sis and Chloe Paschal and with setter Brooklyn Schram and libero Samantha Riggs, the Monarchs should be in system a lot.
#2 – Millard West
Millard West moves up a couple spots from where I had them in the early June rankings largely because of its success in winning a major summer camp in Sioux Falls hosted by Adrenaline. Millard West’s big question coming into this summer was how the team would replace all-state libero Jaiden Centeno, and while I admit I didn’t get a chance to watch them play this summer, the fact that they had success tells me they’ve got the players to handle the back row and the Wildcats certainly have the weapons up front to be balanced and dangerous.
#3 – Elkhorn South
Didn’t really get to see much of Elkhorn South this summer either, but the Storm returns enough talent that you pretty much know what to expect from them coming into the fall. I am still curious to see how Elkhorn South uses all of its pieces and if they shuffle any players around. We will find out right away as on opening night of the high school volleyball season we will have a battle for Elkhorn between the Storm and the Antlers, which will also be contenders in Class A.
#4 – Millard North
You just don’t lose the amount of talent that Millard North lost and expect things to be completely smooth, but Millard North also had an outstanding summer and did very well at the University of Kansas Team Camp. With setter Izzy Lukens back along with attackers McKenna Ruch, Eve Fountain, Lauren Maciejewski and Molly Plahn, Millard North will still be in very good shape to start the season, as long as the Mustangs find a few players to step into the back row slots.
#5 – Millard South
The Patriots won the Omaha Team Camp and won the A-B-C1 division at the Kearney Top 10 Camp this summer, so maybe Millard South deserves to be a little higher than number five right now, but it’s feeling like a fair place for it to start off. The Patriots will once again be relentless with their defensive play, plus they’ve got a couple bombers on the pins with Maddie MacTaggart and Maddie Madej, big middles with Army recruit Paige Fixemer and Laci Abendroth to go with Ohio recruit Sam Steele at libero and Makayla Fleming at setter. If – and it’s a big if – the Patriots can come up with someone to be a legitimate L2, there is no reason why Millard South can’t contend – or possibly even win – in Class A.