Rankings Update: Prepare For Wild Ride in Final Week

Please be sure to keep your hands and feet inside the ride at all times during this final week of the Nebraska high school volleyball regular season until this rollercoaster has come to a complete stop. Even though the Nebraska Elite Volleyball High School Rankings this week remain fairly stable, consider it the calm before the storm. All six of the #1 teams in their respective classes stayed this same this week, but let’s just say the ice is getting a lot thinner for several of them. Here is a quick look at how the regular season winds down this week in each class. <b>Class A</b> The top four teams in the rankings are competing at the Metro Conference Tournament Monday through Thursday at Papillion-LaVista and Papillion-LaVista South High Schools. While that itself could lead to a major rankings reshuffle, there are a few other things I will be watching for. Millard South is having a really nice season but the Patriots have yet to get a win over a ranked Class A team. If they hope to get to the state tournament, they are going to have to get that kind of win somewhere. This week may show if Millard South is ready to take that step. The same can be said for Papillion-LaVista South. The Titans have proved they are capable of beating anyone with their win over top-ranked Millard West this year, but at 18-15 they have struggled to find consistency. They currently sit 11^th in the Class A wild card standings and need a couple good wins this week to boost their postseason seeding and positioning. Lincoln North Star, ranked #6, hosts #7 Lincoln Southeast Tuesday night in a rematch of the Gators’ four-set win over the Knights in the Heartland Athletic Conference semifinals last week. Lincoln Northeast hosts a triangular with the #6 Gators and #1 Millard West on Saturday. <b>Class B </b> Let’s just say #2 Lincoln Pius X has a chance to send a message in the final week of the season. The Thunderbolts travel to #1 Grand Island Northwest on Tuesday. On Thursday, #5 Gretna hosts a triangular with the Thunderbolts and #3 Waverly. Also on Tuesday of this week #10 Elkhorn travels to Gretna and on Thursday #6 Norris and #9 Beatrice take part in the Lincoln Lutheran triangular. The week wraps up with the River Cities Conference tournament on Saturday featuring #Omaha Skutt and Beatrice. <b>Class C-1 &amp; Class C-2</b> The headliner this week in Class C-1 comes when top-ranked Columbus Scotus travels to Class B #4 Omaha Skutt for a match on Tuesday night. Also that night, Class C-1 contender St. Paul will host a match with Class C-2 #1 Hastings St. Cecilia. Several of the top Class C-1 and C-2 teams in the state also will be taking part in the Mid States Conference tournament, featuring the likes of Crofton, Guardian Angels CC, Hartington CC and Wayne. On Friday, Class C-1 #9 Omaha Concordia travels to Class C-2 #8 Lutheran High Northeast. <b>Class D-1 &amp; Class D-2</b> On Tuesday, Sandhills-Thedford, Brady and Class D-1 #4 Ansley-Litchfield take part in a triangular and on Friday Class D-1 #8 takes on Class C-1 #3 Minden. Also this week is the Niobrara Valley Conference tournament which brings together the likes of Class D-1 #1 St. Mary’s, Class D-2 #4 Ewing, Class D-2 #7 Stuart and Clearwater-Orchard, among others. To see the complete rankings in all classes, please click on the High School Rankings tab at the top of the page.