Early August Top 5 Rankings for Class C2

First official practices of the 2019 high school volleyball season begin a week from today and the first contests are now less than four weeks away. What, exactly, happened to summer? It feels like I spent my entire summer driving the back roads of the state hitting as many team and individual camps as I could this summer, probably because that’s what I did. With that knowledge in hand, I give you a look at what I consider – right now – to the the top five teams in each class. I will post the full top 10 in each class the weekend before the start of competition, but for now here is a look at the teams I would rank in the top 5 in Class C2 right now. #1 - Grand Island Central Catholic One of the most storied and successful high school volleyball programs in the state's history appears to be very much so in the hunt for a 10th state championship this fall. Had the Crusaders remained in Class C1, it would have been one of the favorites in that class as well, but dropping down into a much-less competitive field in Class C2 has put Grand Island CC firmly in the drivers seat coming into the 2019 season. Despite losing all-state caliber players like Megan Woods, Kamryn Willman and Jenna Lowry, Grand Island CC still has - by far - the best depth in the class and most overall talent. Creighton recruit Katie Maser returns at setter and has some dynamic attackers returning in the Kalvoda twins - Avery and Allison - along with Kate McFarland, Elli Steenson, sophomore Chloe Cloud and freshman Gracie Woods. If returning back row players like Lauryn Willman, Courtney Toner and Rylie Rice can form a solid back row, the Crusaders will be really hard to stop in C2. #2 - Hastings St. Cecilia About the only team that can come close to matching Grand Island CC's depth and talent is its Centennial Conference rival Hastings St. Cecilia, which has won seven state titles over the years, including two this decade. The Hawkettes return a pair of senior all-state players in setter/right side Makenna Asher and outside Tory Thomas - who had more than 300 kills a year ago. They are joined by two other returning attackers in Katherine Hamburger and Chloe McCauley. The Hawkettes were pretty dominant in winning the C2 division of the Kearney Top 10 Team Camp, but Grand Island CC was not in that division. There is a pretty steep talent gap between GICC, Hastings St. Cecilia and the rest of the C2 class. #3 - Superior Back in early June, I had Superior at the top of the Class C2 rankings. Three things have happened since which has led me to drop them to third. First, GICC was classified into Class C2. Second, I spent a full day watching Hastings St. Cecilia destroy other Class C2 teams in Kearney. Third, I learned that returning junior setter Teghan Sullivan is now at Lincoln Southwest. Superior wasn't really the deepest of teams before the Sullivan departure, so that hurts. Nebraska recruit Kalynn Meyer is still, for my money, one of the most elite players in the state and is capable of carrying a team, but somebody has to make the pass and the set to get her the ball. Sophomore Shayla Meyer is the real deal as well and Trisha Hayes is a really nice outside hitter, but the Wildcats are going to need a handful of players to really step up in order to make noise this fall. #4 - Summerland Summerland is the combination of Ewing with Clearwater and Orchard, but it appears that is in name only. All nine of the players listed on the Summerland roster at the Kearney Top 10 Team Camp were on the Ewing roster last year. In essence, joining with Clearwater-Orchard bumped Ewing (the D2 runner up each of the last two seasons) up two classes without adding a single player to its roster. Fortunately for Summerland, there is plenty of Ewing talent to make this season successful with the likes of Ashley Koenig, Tiana Thramer, Sidney Stallbaum, Summer Schroeder and Brenna Wagner, but duplicating the success it had in D2 is going to be very difficult. #5 - South Loup There were a few different options to choose from for the fifth spot in the rankings, but for now I'm going with South Loup, which had a really nice showing at the Kearney Top 10 Team Camp. Jessie Sallach - a 6'1 middle - is an outstanding player and South Loup also returns key players such as Jadeyn Bubak, Taylor Conroy and Mya Weverka. South Loup has a very real shot at its first state-tournament appearance. The two communities that make up South Loup are Callaway (last trip to state was 1998) and Arnold (last trip to state was 2001).