Another week, another #1 - but Houston is settling down

by Scott White
Editor
LoneStarVolleyball.com

The season is entering its fifth week and we already have our fifth different #1 team, but at least this week it stayed within the same city limits -- San Antonio.

Just days after looking like world beaters in rolling to the Pearland title, last week's #1 team Reagan couldn't win a set against Churchill. Of course as could be expected in this season of parity, Churchill turned right around and almost blew one against New Braunfels.

As a result of their win over Reagan, a lot of people jumped on the Churchill bandwagon. The coaches vaulted them to #1, completely overlooking another San Antonio team -- and one that had little trouble sweeping Churchill a week earlier in Pearland.

We can't forget watching O'Connor handle Churchill with so much ease just a week and a half ago at Pearland. And since we had them #2 last week, they deserve their shot at the top spot. Of course we've already jinxed four other #1 teams, so it will be interesting how long their enjoy ride at the top.

Other than the Churchill-Reagan match, however, not much else happened around the state. It's very clear that we are beginning to settle into the dog days of district.

The good news for Houston fans is that the teams that established themselves as state-caliber squads during the Pearland tournament are continuing to play well. Clear Creek, Pearland, Cy Woods and The Woodlands, winner of the Kingwood tournament last weekend, all are playing as well as anyone in the state at the moment.

And as Clear Creek proved in knocking off two-time defending state champion Amarillo at Pearland, when they are on their game, Houston's best can beat the best the state has to offer.

As a result, there wasn't a lot of movement in the rankings. Arlington Martin, which fell twice with one of its two terminators now lost for the season, drops out of the Top 20, making room for New Braunfels to return.

One team we're intrigued by is College Park. They won the Dickinson tournament over the weekend and they have some nice wins already this season so we're moving them onto our Team to Watch List.

Also, this week we begin our Readers' Poll. We had a lot of interest but we can use more, so send us your votes by noon each Monday.

As we continue to suffer withdrawals from one of the most entertaining Tournament Seasons in years, here is this week's ranking of the best 20 high school teams in Texas. To ease the boredom and at the suggestion of a reader, we've added region identification to the list.

LoneStarVolleyball.com Texas Top 20

Rank. Team (Record, Region) Last Week

1.San Antonio O'Connor (21-3, IV) 2
2. San Antonio Churchill (24-3, IV) 4
3. San Antonio Reagan (27-2, IV) 1
4. Lake Highlands (24-3, II) 3
5. Clear Creek (21-4, III) 5
6. Amarillo (25-3, I) 6
7. Westlake (19-7, IV) 7
8. Pearland (17-7, III) 8
9. Highland Park (22-6, 4A-II) 9
10. Plano West (17-4, I) 10
11. The Woodlands (18-3, II) 11
12. Cy Woods (21-2, II) 13
13. Coppell (21-4, I) 14
14. Westwood (21-7, II) 15
15. Hereford (23-3, 4A-I) 16
16. Round Rock (19-4, II) 18
17. Alamo Heights (19-5, 4A-IV) 20
18. Canyon Randall (24-1, 4A-I) 19
19. New Braunfels (15-9, IV)
20. Smithson Valley (22-9, IV) 17

Posted by Scott White  at 5:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)