VSN / GeauxPreps Volleyball Power 25 Poll – After Week 4
by: VSN Staff // GeauxPreps.com Partner
St. Thomas More sure showed why they were a unanimous pick as the No.1 team in the state across all divisions after a jaw-dropping week where they went 8-0 and didn’t lose a set against some of the top teams in Louisiana.
No surprise that the Cougars picked up all 13 first-place votes and are once again the unanimous No.1 in the latest VSN/GeauxPrep Volleyball Power 25 poll.
At St. Joseph’s Red Hot Sticker Classic, STM was at its best.
After beating No.6 Parkview Baptist on Friday, the Cougars ran through the Gold Division on Saturday knocking off No.4 Dominican, No.5 Country Day, No.7 Hannan, and No.2 Mt. Carmel to clinch the tournament championship.
“It’s a really excellent feeling,” said STM coach Jes Burke. “It’s very exciting to be able to coach at the level I can with this group. They’re very talented. Their volleyball IQ is really high. For us to be challenged and to come out on top was really exciting for us.”
Mt. Carmel who started the week with a 3-0 win vs No.3 Slidell and avenged their only in-state loss at the time to Country Day 2-0, had their 12-game win streaked stopped Saturday morning by Hannan who they had beat twice earlier in the season remains the No.2 team.
Slidell rebounded from the Mt. Carmel loss well and won seven straight including a 6-0 record winning the Woodlawn Tournament Championship remains No.3.
Hannan jumps three spots after a 4-1 record at the Red Hot Classic and now are No.4, with Country Day remaining in the No.5 position.
1. STM (15-0, 14-0 vs LA, 8-0 week )…STM left no doubt why they were a unanimous No.1 pick in this poll last week going 8-0 this week (didn’t lose a set all week) including 6-0 vs Power 25s and 6-0 at the SJA Red Sticker Classic…STM started the week off by beating No.20 SJA and No.6 PBS….Then went 6-0 at the Red Sticker including a perfect 4-0 record on Saturday in the Gold Division beating No.2 MCA, No.4 Dominican, No.5 Country Day, and No.7 Hannan. Wow.
2. Mt. Carmel (20-4 overall, 16-3 vs LA, 6-2 week)… Started off the week with 3-0 wins vs No.3 Slidell and Mandeville…then went 4-2 at the Red Sticker…Beat No.21 Northshore and No.14 Teurlings Catholic 3-0 on Friday…Started off Gold Division play Sat with 2-0 win vs No.5 Country Day running their win streak to 12 straight…then lost to No.7 Hannan 2-0 (after beating them twice 2-0 earlier in the season)…Beat No.4 Dominican 2-0 and lost to No.1 STM (25-19, 25-21)…in 19 games this season vs LA schools MCA has faced 17 Power 25’s and 8 have been vs defending state champs.
Coach’s Comments: “We had an exhausting week playing the best of the best in the state. We are focusing on improving our mental game just as much as our physical game. With a little over a month left in our season, we are still growing and improving in certain skills and aspects of the game.” Taylor Ricaud
3. Slidell (18-1, 7-1 week)… Started off the week with a 3-0 loss at No.2 MCA and a 3-0 win vs No.21 Northshore…Then went 6-0 at Woodlawn Tournament not losing a set…only Power 25 opponent was No.19 Newman and won that one 25-18, 25-23.
Coach’s Comments: “We played well for the weekend. We had to leave our school at 8:30am on Saturday morning and didn’t get back till like 9:30pm so playing an all day tournament in Baton Rouge like that can be very taxing. I thought the girls did a good job with the adversity of how much time they had to invest in the last couple of days we finished up playing U-High and Newman who were both talented athletic strong teams.
“In both matches we were probably considered undersized compared to our opponent, so we really had to focus on ball control. I honestly think Newman may be the most aggressive serving team we have faced this season. I was pleased that we were able to weather the storm and come out on the top.” Danny Tullis
4. Hannan (14-6 overall, 9-5 vs LA, 5-2 week)…Started off with a 3-2 loss to No.4 Dominican after winning the first two sets in impressive fashion…Beat No.23 NLC 3-0…Went 4-1 at Red Sticker for 2nd place finish….Rallied back to beat Jackson Academy (MS) on Fri….then went 3-1 in Gold Division Sat beating No.2 MCA, No.4 Dominican, and No.5 Country Day. Jumped three spots this week.
Coach’s Comments: “This weekend we started to get in a little bit of a groove. When we got down, we fought back. We are learning to play together.” Bekki Bonnaffee
5. Country Day (13-7 overall, 9-4 vs LA, 5-3 week)…Started off the week with three 3-1 wins vs No.10 JC, No.23 NLC, and No.4 Dominican…went 2-3 at Red Sticker…Two 2-1 wins Friday vs No.20 SJA and Lakeshore…then went 0-3 in Gold Division Saturday losing to No.2 MCA, No.1 STM, and No.7 Hannan
6. Haynes (8-0, 3-0 week)…beat McGehee and ASH 3-0, then beat Lakeshore 3-1. Up two spots this week
7. Dominican (13-5 overall, 12-5 vs LA, 3-4 week)…Started off the week with amazing comeback 3-2 win vs No.7 Hannan after losing first two sets…Then lost to No.5 Country Day 3-1….went 2-3 at Red Sticker. Beat No.6 PBS and Jackson Academy MS on Friday after suffering a key injury……went 0-3 in Gold Division Saturday losing 2-0 to No.1 STM, No.7 Hannan, and No.2 MCA
8. Parkview Baptist (12-4 overall, 11-3 vs LA, 4-3 week)…Started off with 3-0 win vs EA. Then lost 3-0 to No.1 STM….went 3-2 at Red Sticker…Lost to No.4 Dominican on Friday, then went 3-1 Saturday in Silver Division beating MRA (MS), No.14 TC, and No.20 SJA, and playing with JV players lost to Jackson Academy (MS)
9. Vandebilt (14-2, 2-0 week)…Beat Assumption 3-0, beat AOL 3-1
10. John Curtis (13-3, 1-1 week)…Lost to No.5 Country Day 3-1, beat Thomas Jefferson 3-0
11. Hahnville (13-2, 2-0 week)…Beat Assumption and Chapelle 3-0
12. Ben Franklin (9-2, 2-0 week) Beat Crescent City 3-0, beat ASH 3-1
13. E.D. White (6-5, 1-0 week)…Beat PJP 3-1
14. Westminster (Opelousas) (13-3, 3-0 week)…Beat No.15 CHNI 3-1 then had 3-0 wins vs WCA-Lafayette and Southside
15. Newman (13-5 overall, 6-1 week)…Had 3-0 wins vs Chalmette and De La Salle…then went 4-1 at Woodlawn Tournament. Beating Woodlawn, Ellender, Hammond, and Doyle, losing to No.3 Slidell 2-0…Up four spots this week.
16. Teurlings Catholic (8-10 overall, 7-9 vs LA, 3-5 week)…Lost to Notre Dame 3-2 then beat No.15 CHNI 3-0…Went 2-4 at Red Sticker…Friday lost to No.2 MCA 2-0, then beat No.21 Northshore 2-0..went 1-3 Sat in Silver Division beating Jackson Academy (MS) while losing to MRA (MS), No.6 PBS and No.20 SJA
17. Dutchtown (13-3, 3-0 week)…Beat No.25 Dunham 3-1, then had 3-0 wins vs St. Amant and Central
18.Lafayette Christian (18-3, 3-0 week)…Swept all three wins this week vs Central Private, Cecilia, and Episcopal of Acadiana
19. Catholic High N.I. (12-4, 1-2 week)…Lost to No.16 WCA 3-1 and No.14 TC 3-0…then beat Southside 3-2
20. St. Michael (16-2, 5-0 week)…Started off with a 3-0 win over No.24 SSA and 3-1 vs Ascension Catholic…Then went 3-0 at their own St Michael Tournament with 2-0 wins vs No.25 Dunham, Notre Dame, and St. Charles. Up to spots this week.
21. St. Joseph’s (11-8 overall, 9-8 vs LA, 4-3 week)…Started off with a 3-0 loss to No.1 STM. Then went 4-2 at their own Red Hot Sticker Classic…Lost to No.5 CD and beat Lakeshore on Friday…then went 3-1 in Silver Division beating both MS schools and No.14 TC, and losing to No.6 PBS
22. Northshore (6-6, 3-4 week)….Started the week with a 3-1 win vs Mandeville and a 3-0 loss to No.3 Slidell…then went 2-3 at Red Sticker…losing to No.2 MCA and No.14 TC on Friday, then going 2-1 in Bronze Division Saturday beating Mandeville and Lakeshore, and losing 2-1 to PJP
23. SSA (5-7, 1-2 week)…Lost 3-0 to No.22 St. Michael and 3-2 to Fontainebleau…beat Chapelle 3-1
24. Sam Houston (16-3, 2-0 week)…Enters the Power 25 for the first time this season after 3-0 wins over both Westlake and Episcopal of Acadiana…on the season has played three Power 25s lost all three (St. Michael twice, and Newman)
25. U-High 18-3…6-1 week…Enters the Power 25 for the first time this season…only 3 losses on the season came to Power 25s (No.3 Slidell, No.6 PBS, and No 16 WCA)
Other top vote getters:
Northlake Christian (5-5, 1-1 week)…Beat Jennings 3-0, lost to Episcopal of Acadiana 3-0
C.E. Byrd (16-4, 5-2 week)… Started with wins over Loyola Prep and Captain Shreve and a loss to Sulphur, then went 3-1 at Benton Tournament beating West Ouachita, Neville, and Providence Classic, losing to Central Lafourche 2-0 (25-23, 25-17)
Dunham (12-5, 2-2 week)…started with 3-1 loss to Dutchtown…then went 2-1 at St. Michael Tournament. Beat Notre dame and St Charles, lost to No.22 St Michael
Breakdown by Division:
Division I
1. Mt. Carmel
2. Slidell
3. Dominican
4. Hahnville
5. Dutchtown
6. St. Joes
7. Northshore
8. C.E. Byrd
Division II
1. STM
2. Ben Franklin
3. Teurlings Catholic
4. SSA
5. Sam Houston
6. AOL
Division III
1. Hannan
2. Haynes
3. Parkview Baptist
4. Vandebilt
5. E.D. White
6. St. Michael
7. U-High
Division IV
1. John Curtis
2. Newman
3. LCA
4. CHNI
5. NLC
6. Dunham
Division V
1. Country Day
2. Westminster (Opelousas)
VSN Volleyball Broadcast Live Streaming Schedule
Tuesday Oct 1
Dominican @ Slidell
Hanson Memorial @ CCA
Cecilia @ STM (9th/JV/Varsity)
Wednesday Oct 2
St. Joseph’s @ MCA
E.D. White @ STM (JV/Varsity)
Thomas Jefferson @ AOL
Thursday Oct 3
St. Joseph’s @ Parkview Baptist (Pink Game)
Ascension Episcopal @ STM (JV/V)-Pink Game
Friday/Saturday Oct. 4/5
Covenant Christian Lady Lion Classic
Live streaming from Court 3