CBS MaxPreps released its Xcellent 50 volleyball national rankings for high school programs Wednesday, and Baylor (11-0) is in at No. 32.
The Lady Red Raiders won the gold division in the Early Bird tournament last weekend in the Knoxville area. In 10 best-of-three matches, they lost one set - to Blessed Trinity from Roswell, Ga. - and twice defeated runner-up Brentwood High, which is ranked No. 15 in the Xcellent 50.
"What an honor to be recognized by MaxPreps," Baylor coach Sarah Lail said. "I think a lot of it had to do with our performance in the Early Bird tournament. We played a lot of top teams in the state and came out victorious. I'm super proud of the girls. What a great start to the season. I hope we can continue that."
Key clash at Walker Valley
Cleveland or neighboring rival Walker Valley is going to come away from today's District 5-AAA volleyball match at 6 p.m. at Walker Valley with a 3-0 district record. And that winner will potentially be on a collision course with longtime league power Ooltewah for district supremacy in the first half of this season.
Ooltewah's Lady Owls, who haven't lost a district match since 2012, are also 2-0 in league play.
Walker Valley plays Tuesday at Soddy-Daisy (1-1 in district), then hosts Ooltewah next Thursday in what could be a clash of the only teams with unblemished records in the league. Or Cleveland's match at Ooltewah a week from Tuesday could be a battle of district unbeatens, provided the Lady Raiders win today and defeat district opponents East Hamilton (1-2) and Soddy-Daisy next week.
Cleveland is led by 6-foot-2 junior outside hitter Emma Flowers.
The Lady Mustangs' reputation in recent years is that of a scrappy team that's difficult to put the ball down against, and this year their blocking has improved with the emergence of 5-10 senior middle blocker Julia McGuire.
"It's a big match," Walker Valley coach Judy Pruett said of today's matchup with the Lady Raiders. "It will kind of let us know who is one of the leaders in the district. I expect it to go four or five games. That's just my opinion. Any time we play them, it's usually back and forth."
Calhoun, Gordon Lee lead ranked teams
A pair of top-ranked teams lead a group of 11 northwest Georgia softball programs in the top 10s of their respective classes by Score Atlanta this week.
Calhoun (8-1), seeking a fourth consecutive state title, sits atop of the Class AAA poll, while Gordon Lee (2-1), back in Class A after winning last year's AA title, heads up the public school poll.
Other schools ranked are Dalton (5-2, No. 3 in Class AAAAAA), Heritage (5-1, No. 3 in AAAA), Ridgeland (5-1, No. 8 in AAAA), LaFayette (6-4, No. 9 in AAAA), Ringgold (4-3, No. 6 in AAA), Sonoraville (5-3, No. 9 in AAA), Chattooga (6-3, No. 9 in AA), Christian Heritage (2-1, No. 8 in A private) and Trion (4-0, No. 3 in A public).