This is “Dots,” VolleyballMag.com’s weekly look at 10 things in high school volleyball, past or present, that interest me and hopefully will interest you. Look for Dots every Tuesday until the last high school state championship in November.
- Molly Summers delivered the clinching kill as Holland Hall of Tulsa downed Rejoice Christian on Saturday for its first-ever Oklahoma 3A title. After splitting the first two sets, the Dutch won the final two sets, benefiting from a fast start in Game 3 and the spark of seeing senior Kalayia Johnson come off the bench to serve in Game 4. Johnson (pre-season Achilles tear), one of the team’s best hitters; and senior Elle Mabrey both missed the season with injuries; yet, Holland Hall found a way to win for them.
Head coach Shelby Swanson wore shiny gold pants for the championship match, reinforcing the notion that her team was interested only in the gold medal for first place.
The Dutch, who won in four sets, played in 3A this season after playing in 4A the past two years. Holland Hall, which lost in the 4A quarters in 2020 and 2021, replaced two-time defending 3A champion Community Christian atop 3A after Community Christian moved to 4A this year.
Community Christian was unable to win a third consecutive state title, even though the Royals went into the state tournament as the top seed. Lincoln Christian, a team Community Christian defeated in four sets during the regular season, avenged that defeat to take the title in four sets and capture the fifth state championship in program history. The Bulldogs have won four of those five titles over the past five seasons.
Junior OH Paiton Tuggle was a catalyst in the win for Lincoln Christian. Francesca Rollandini’s ace serve clinched the title.
Community Christian was led by its star junior, Landry Braziel.
• The Oklahoma small-school titles were the first of what should be an exciting volleyball championship fall across the country.Oklahoma’s large school championships are this weekend – Edmond Memorial and Jenks are the top teams in 6A. Mount St. Mary’s and Bishop McGuinness are 1-2 in 5A.
Mississippi and Tennessee also will conclude championships by week’s end.
• Tennessee’s state championships began today. Brentwood, which in 2021, had its streak of eight straight large-class state titles snapped, returned to state this year and won its first-round quarterfinal, 3-0, over West Ridge. Dylan Sulcer had 32 assists in the win and is now ninth all-time on the Tennessee career assists list with 3,001.The Bruins will take on Collierville, a five-set quarterfinal winner over Maryville; in a winner’s bracket semifinal tomorrow in the double elimination format.
Nolensville, considered the state’s top team all year and the 2021 AAA champion, is not among the teams at state this year. Ravenwood stunned the Knights, who also won the state 2019 and 2020 titles in Class AA, during District 11 play almost two weeks before.
Nolensville had been a prohibitive favorite to repeat in AAA behind nine seniors, including 6-1 OH Maggie Rickert, a Gonzaga pledge.
• Marian High School of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, which was No. 1 nationally by at least one rankings service to start the year, lost its first match of the season on Saturday. Northville (35-3) took down the reigning Class A champions in tournament play, 25-23, 25-15 behind 13 kills and three aces from Abby Reck, a Miss Michigan finalist. Marian is now 34-1 on the season heading into its league tournament.
• Consensus national No. 1 Cathedral Catholic (33-0) faces a threat to its ongoing streak of wins without losing a set today when it takes on state No. 10 Torrey Pines (23-6) in a home match. Torrey Pines has managed to win matches at a prolific rate despite regularly missing 2-3 starters from its starting lineup. Head coach Brennan Dean reports that only his M2 will miss this contest, which could be very competitive. Key players for Torrey Pines include setter Nikki Quinn, libero Katerina Lutz, senior middle Grace Flanagan and freshman OH Finn Krystkowiak. All will play tonight.
Lafayette had fun winning in the Ozarks (Who misses Ruth?) • The Lafayette Lancers won the Ozark Grand Slam tournament, which featured the current top three teams in Missouri. Coming into the tournament, Eureka was ranked No. 1, Liberty No. 2 and Lafayette No. 3. The Lancers went 6-0 on the weekend and had great offensive performances by senior Caitlyn Little and Allison Risley, both of whom were named to the All-Tournament team.
• Myah Favre, a 5-9 middle blocker from Mississippi’s Our Lady Academy, leads the nation’s freshmen in kills according to MaxPreps. She has 510 with one more match remaining, the 3A state final Friday afternoon versus Alcorn Central. It’s a rematch of last year’s final, which Alcorn Central won in three straight, snapping OLA’s eight-year state-title streak.
• Blair Thiebaud, a setter from College Station in Texas (1,003 assists); Aura Mendez, a libero from Ash Fork in Arizona (590 digs); and Ahaziah Smith, a middle from Capital in West Virginia (187 blocks), also top freshmen according to MaxPreps.
• Of all the freshmen making varsity impacts in 2022, the one with the most star power might be Henley Anderson, a 6-4 outside hitter from Dripping Springs in Texas. With three regular-season matches remaining, Anderson has recorded 375 kills, 262 digs, 62 blocks and 37 aces for a 33-12 team considered among the top 20 in the Lone Star State.
Anderson reportedly touches 10-2, plays with great composure and has a power game drawing raves.
• At Dots, we’re on the lookout for players who put up outrageous single-match stat lines. We are asking coaches on our list to let us know if any of their players achieved any of these benchmarks:
55 assists in a match
35 kills in a match
35 digs in a match
10 blocks in a match
10 aces in a matchWe learned of these new achievements this week:
10 or more aces in a match
Tatum Montiel, 5-11 Soph. OH, Marshfield (Coos Bay, Oregon) — 17 aces in a match versus Cottage Grove on Sept. 20
Do you have any players who have met these benchmarks? Let me know at jtawa@volleyballmag.com.
Be sure to check the last two editions of Dots for other stat stars.
Until next time …
