Volleyball Season Spikes Up
September 21st, 2007 Posted in Florida volleyball, volleyball, High School VolleyballDespite our focus on football in this, our inaugural month, we haven’t forgotten about volleyball. In fact, we witnessed a fine match Thursday that saw DeLand rally from a 2-0 deficit to win a five-game match with rival Deltona. That’s a bragging rights game, and word is there’s usually plenty of bragging right up until the teams meet again. Of course, that district’s best team is a talented (Port Orange) Spruce Creek squad that has dreams of reaching the Sweet Sixteen, a feat that requires them, most likely, to upset Winter Park. The rising and youthful Hawks believe it’s possible.
Of course, there are several more key teams out there, including 5A power (Tampa) Plant, which is seeking a return trip to the state title game after winning it all last year.
To provide a little more insight, the Florida Sports Writers Association published the organization’s first state volleyball poll of the season. Unlike our somewhat narrow-minded football rankings, FSWA’s polls are genuine efforts of dozens of sportswriters from across the state. Their records are as of Sept. 18. First-place votes are in parantheses, and the last number is the number of overall points, which determined the poll order.
A few things to note on the poll is that all of the 6A teams have at least one loss, most likely the result of some of the early-season tournaments. Gainesville Buchholz hosted one of those tournaments, and the Bobcats are ranked at the top of 6A for the moment. Of course, it’s another pair of Gainesville teams that brings this week’s best story, which appeared Friday in the Gainesville Sun. High School Sports Editor John Patton writes about sisters who went toe to toe on the court this week.
Anyway, enjoy the poll results and check back next week as we ramp our coverage of Florida high school volleyball.
CLASS 6A
1. Gainesville Buchholz (13) (10-2) 145
2. Orlando Timber Creek (8-1) 125
3. Winter Park (2) (7-2) 124
4. Weston Cypress Bay (6-1) 77
5. Miami Killian (6-1) 73
6. Oviedo (8-2) 66
7. Orlando Olympia (8-3) 48
8. Miami Varela (8-1) 38
9. Sanford Seminole (8-3) 32
10. Plant City Durant (4-1) 25
Also receiving votes: Jupiter (8-2) 20, Port Orange Spruce Creek (7-3) 15, Boca Raton Spanish River (8-4) 14, Miami Ferguson (6-1) 5, Lakeland (5-3) 1.
CLASS 5A
1. Tampa Plant (14) (5-0) 149
2. Venice (1) (12-0) 136
3. Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas (9-1) 114
4. Winter Park Lake Howell (11-1) 92
5. Stuart Martin County (9-1) 78
6. Fort Myers (7-1) 66
7. Hollywood Hills (4-1) 48
8. Gainesville (8-5) 42
9. Naples Gulf Coast (8-2) 28
10. West Boca Raton (10-4) 26
Also receiving votes: Niceville (4-2) 9, Jacksonville Bartram Trail (4-1) 8, Lakeland George Jenkins (6-0) 7, Tallahassee Leon (n/a) 4, Auburndale (4-2) 3.
CLASS 4A
1. Fort Lauderdale Cardinal Gibbons (15) (5-0) 150
2. Jensen Beach (8-4) 105
3. Naples (6-1) 99
4. Lemon Bay (10-2) 83
5. Groveland South Lake (4-0) 81
6. Ponte Vedra Beach Nease (4-1) 80
7. Orlando Bishop Moore (4-2) 50
8. Arcadia DeSoto County (5-0) 42
9. Pembroke Pines Charter (4-2) 38
10. Alachua Santa Fe (7-5) 24
Also receiving votes: Jacksonville Bishop Kenny (n/a) 19, St. Augustine (4-0) 12, Crescent Beach Menendez (5-0) 5, Navarre (9-0) 4, Haines City (9-0) 4, South Fort Myers (7-1) 1.
CLASS 3A
1. Orlando Lake Highland Prep (15) (8-1) 150
2. Tampa Berkeley Prep (5-2) 134
3. West Palm Beach Cardinal Newman (4-1) 87
4. Gainesville P.K. Yonge (7-5) 83
5. Fort Myers Bishop Verot (5-2) 77
6. Tampa Academy of Holy Names (3-0) 72
7. Melbourne Central Catholic (6-1) 62
8. Interlachen (7-3) 47
9. Sarasota Cardinal Mooney (5-2) 36
10. Fort Lauderdale Pine Crest (3-5) 17
Also receiving votes: Jacksonville Bolles (n/a) 7, Winter Park Trinity Prep (n/a) 6, Fort Lauderdale (n/a) 3, Ocala Trinity Catholic (7-2) 1.
CLASS 2A
1. Maitland Orangewood Christian (12) (5-0) 146
2. Fort Myers Evangelical Christian (1) (6-1) 127
3. West Palm Beach King’s Academy (2) (10-2) 124
4. Gainesville Oak Hall (12-2) 109
5. Coral Springs Christian (7-0) 78
Also receiving votes: Melbourne Holy Trinity Episcopal (8-0) 34, Miami Country Day (5-0) 24, Orlando Pine Castle Christian (5-1) 20, Palmer Trinity (8-3) 10, Blountstown (n/a) 4, Ocala St. Johns Country Day (n/a) 4, Westminster Christian (n/a) 3, Miami Christian (9-1) 1.
CLASS 1A
1. South Daytona Warner Christian (5) (9-2) 136
2. Lecanto Seven Rivers Christian (7) 8-0) 119
3. Merritt Island Christian (3) (6-0) 97
4. Homestead Redland Christian (5-0) 73
5. Fort Lauderdale Calvary Christian (6-2) 65
Also receiving votes: Out-of-Door Academy (5-0) 54, Boca Raton Christian (5-5) 24, Ocala St. John Lutheran (n/a) 11, Bradenton Christian (n/a) 7.
