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I love that high school is going to rally scoring and 3 of 5, it's been too long coming. Do you know if freshmen and JV will play 3 of 5 or is it just for varsity? It would make for some really long evenings if all three levels play 3 of 5. Also, do you know if tournaments will go to 3 of 5 or stay as they are?

Sure wish you would attempt to rank the 15s, these girls work really hard and deserve some recognition. My daughter's team has three varsity players, that's more than some 16s teams. It wouldn't be that hard, just follow the Division 1 Texas Championship Series and check out what they're doing in Northern Texas. - Houston VB Fan (posted 1/31)

Editor's Note: Rachel Seewald at the UIL says that they are waiting for data from states who experimented with rally scoring on the length of matches and other details. The UIL will then meet with the Texas Girls Coaches Association volleyball committee and discuss whether they need to go with a 2-of-3 format instead of 3-of-5 for subvarsity matches. Same for tournaments. They'll review scheduling issues and determine what adjustments need to be made in the number of games. But the matches will be played as rally. She said they hope to have more information in a few weeks.

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We need more volleyball rankings or info to complain about. The weekend is long over so quit with the suspense. You have to post something. And also when are you going to put something up on 14's teams. High Plains 14-1's have two first places and the 14-2's have a first and second to the 14-1's so far in tournament play. - Amarilllo (posted 1/28)

Editor's note: We have another "Around The State" update coming on Thursday. During club season we re-rack the teams twice a month, so the next rankings will come out on Feb. 4 (following the next round of Tour action.) We also have several interviews with some of the state's more interesting players coming up. As we mentioned in our first rankings, we consider anything below 16s developmental ages since most of the players are sub-varsity level athletes, so we won't have a lot of coverage of those age groups unless we come across exceptional teams (ie., Alamo) or athletes. But, that doesn't keep fans or parents from keeping the rest of the state updated on what's happening, as you just did. Thanks for the email.

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Please note that North Dallas Red (17-1) finished 2nd in the 18 & Under Silver Division, not 1st as you said in your "Notable:" remark under your list of the results. Please bear that in mind when you do your next rankings of the 17 & Under's.

Also, in your story about the Red Oak/Mid-Cities team, they were not necessarily "rusty" in pool play, just beaten by a very good Dallas Skyline team that should have been worth mentioning - and yes, who played them again in the finals in a very close match and came in second, because it's very hard to beat the same good team twice in one tournament. - from a shamelessly prejudiced Dallas Skyline parent (posted 1/23)

Editor's note: Thanks for the heads-up. We were working from a spreadsheet sent over by the tournament organizers earlier this week and it showed North Dallas finishing first in the 17s. Since we were watching the 18s on Sunday we didn't get a chance to see the 17s. We've made the correction.

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Congrats to Rachel Harrell for her commitment to U of H. They basically got the bulk of Tornados 18 year old team. Has to be the best recruiting class ever for B Walton. Three more scholarships and Street, Andrews and Martin would round it out (just Kidding) This has to be a first in the recruiting world. - Jim (posted 1/22)

Editor's note: For a complete list of who's going to Cougarland and elsewhere, and to see who added their name to the dotted line this month, just click on the "Recruits" link above.

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I was just curious if you guys have a special section for the TAPPS schools? I looked around tonight but could not find any of the all state, district, final rankings etc. Let me know where they are hiding! TAPPS carries some of it, but not the local all-district teams. Nice site, we follow the local high schools since our daughters have friends at many of them. Since my girls go to a TAPPS school, we don’t see the others quite as much as we would like. - Ed (posted 1/22)

Editor's note: Our goal is to provide coverage of the "best" in Texas high school and club volleyball - the best teams, the best players and the best stories. So, unlike other rankings and sites we cover high school volleyball as a whole. Other than when reporting scores, we don't separate 5A from 4A or public from private. Our rankings, for example, are of the top 20 teams in Texas regardless of classification or whether they are public or private. Our all-Texas team is a look at the top players, regardless of where they play. Same with our post-season awards. Which is a roundabout way of saying no, we don't have a separate section for private schools. We also don't list all-district teams because we simply don't have the manpower to do it. Thanks for being a fan.

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I just thought I might give you guys a heads up about another good club team in Texas that doesn't get any recognition. The El Paso Wildfire 18's is very talented and showed it this past weekend at the Fiesta Classic in Pheonix. They finished strong, receiving third place. They took a very well respected Arizona Juniors team to three close games before losing in the semi's. Also, they beat Tulsa Volleyball Club, a team well known for its abundance of talent and junior olympic players in two games.They defeated the Amarillo Juniors, whom you have ranked 7th, in two games. They also finished above Texas Block Party, who is also ranked. We know El Paso volleyball gets forgotten in Texas, but maybe you should start taking some notice. There is a lot of talent out here. - J-Bo, El Paso (posted 1/21)

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As club director, and 17's coach, I have a problem with some of your information. Really, I just assume be left out of your "rankings", b/c we do like to surprise teams, but I need to draw the line when you don't rank Hit-Away at all! We finished higher then Willowbrook last year at Nationals, and this year we have beat Alamo Kaepa twice, River City twice, and Spike Sport once. How can you completely exclude a team that finished higher then 99% of any team in the Houston area at JO's? Granted, we started slow at the Tour Qualifier, but still should have been ahead of several of these teams. This last weekend, we won the MLK Tournament in San Antonio. Who are you, what are your credentials with USAV and where are you getting your information. - Sheila (posted 1/21)

Editor's note: We always like to hear from coaches and club directors even when they think we're nuts. We are very aware of Hit-Away and were prepared to move them into our Top 15 prior to their performance at the Tour qualifier. There is still a long way to go and a lot of teams are capable of moving into the rankings before all is said and done. However, as we did at the start of the high school season, we'll use Sheila's letter to answer some common questions we've received recently from people new to the site.
1. As we mentioned in the preseason rankings, we gave a little consideration to last year's finishes at JOs but since many players play up, some make dramatic improvement during the high school season and some change clubs from one season to the next, that is not the basis for the rankings. Especially when making the jump from 15s to 16s or 16s to 17s.
2. We don't consider scrimmages in our rankings. We give a little consideration to pool play at tournaments, but give priority to performances in bracket play.
3. As indicated by the date on the article, the rankings were compiled prior to the MLK tournament. Unlike high school, where we updated the rankings weekly because teams play more frequently, we plan to update the rankings in club about every two weeks. The next rankings will come out shortly after Tour stop #2.
4. We are in no way affiliated with USAV or the Lone Star Region, although we know many people in those organizations. We're an independent web site started by former coaches and sportswriters, some who have covered college and professional sports and volleyball for two decades. Our rankings are based on our observations of teams and players at tournaments, comparisons of head-to-head performances in tournament settings and input provided by coaches, club directors and recruiters. And we've been pretty happy with our ranking ability. After all, our pre-season high school #1 and #2 ended up meeting in the 5A finals.

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Hi, I am disappointed that you have overlooked the Hitaway team out of Tomball Texas. Last year this team (then 16 national.) finished third in the 16's bracket at the Tour of Texas and 18th at nationals. This year so far we took second place at the December 7th willowbrook tournament (second only to the Willobrook Team) and just last weekend had a first place finish at the San Antonio MLK tournament beating out Alamo Kapea 17's who placed second. We are in second division right now at this year's tour of Texas just like club Texas and several other " big" teams.

I expect great things from this Hitaway team as they get used to having lost five but replaced four players. As the girls gel on the court great things will continue to happen. Please give the girls and club director 17's coach the credit they are due. - Sharon (posted 1/21)

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There are a few teams listed in your rankings that aren't very accurate. First the Amarillo juniors 18's team has a fifteen year old setter who stands about five feet tall. They do have two good but undersized outsides. They will not compete well in the open. There 16's team lost there best player Nicole Mahan to the 18's. They also lost there libero, setter and recently lost at the very weak Redlands Classic to club competition at best. You also have High Plains 17's ranked way too high. They are undersized and a mix of mostly 16's. They have a chance in club only. Lastly Crown of Texas has probably the best collection of talent and size in the 18's around here. They beat last years 17's national club champ without playing there best game. Watch out for them. - unbiased observer Amarillo (posted 1/17)

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Who votes on these all-state teams.? The sportswriters selections may be worse than the coaches. It looks like if you want the sportswriters to name you all-state you should live in west Texas or east Texas. What a joke. - Dallas fan (posted 1/15)

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I can not even begin to understand the Texas Sports Writers Association All State Team in 5A. How can there be an All State team without Ryan Maspero? For that matter, she was only an honorable mention and there were no other players from San Antonio even mentioned. I can never begin to understand how these people make these selections and don't have to answer for them. I usually don't care about these awards as my daughter goes to a Private School that doesn't get much recognition but to snub all the great volleyball players from the San Antonio area is a disgrace! - S.A. Vball Fan (posted 1/15)

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Just curious, when will there be an update of the rankings that are curently listed on the web-site? Many of the teams listed in the rankings did not fare very well at the recent qualifier tournament in Austin. - Texas Volleyball Fan (posted 1/14/03)

Editor's note: We'll have new rankings later this week, prior to the MLK tournaments.

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I just saw the e-mail regarding the picks by the papers. I thought that most of the picks were a little biased. My daughter played for Arlington High School and led the district in kills for outside hitters for most of the season. She also led the area in digs for the whole season, and was not named best defensive player either. (She was primary passer for 5 rotations) She received the "Most Outstanding Hitter" at the Duncanville tournament and was named "All Tournament" in Pearland as was Daniella Romero. (Daneilla was given many awards). Our team did not even place in Pearland and Colby was given recognition for her talent. I think they should have picked the selections by the competition that the girls faced during the season and their ability, not by their team's record. I think that not naming Colby to the All Area team was a huge oversight. I am sure that she will not be selected to play in the All-Star game either, as I believe it is all "rigged" anyway. On a positve note, North Dallas 18 Red is ranked in the top 10 Club teams in the state and we are looking forward to a great club season. - AG, Arlington (posted 1/14/03)

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I've only recently found your website, but have really enjoyed reading the articles as well as the letters to the editor. The forum you've created is probably the best source of information for Texas volleyball. I noticed in your coverage for the Tour of Texas that you mentioned that recruiting changes had adversely affected the number of D-1 coaches attending the event. I'm curious what was the change? Thanks. - Bill in Houston (posted 1/6/03)

Editor's Note: Thanks for the compliment. The NCAA changed its recruiting calendar this year and coaches at Division 1 schools are not allowed to conduct any off-site recruiting until February 15.

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I agree with you, the selections in the Star Telegram left me scratching my head. They had great coverage all year. Then they go an blow it in the all area selections. There is one of their first team selections that makes me wonder if they should not get some new poeple who are not baised to vote on the all area team. How can they name someone all area who played no one. -Kelly, the #1 Red Oak fan (posted 1/4/03)

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I completely disagree with your assessment of the Fort Worth Star Telegram all area players. If you look at the MVP's stats, they were not anywhere near the top. However, she is probably the premier player from that area and she will prove that on her club team this year. The easy route to go would have been to pick the big stat player---most of whom were second team or not listed at all (i.e. Fields, Wascovich, Randel). I think the Star Telegram actually did some homework. And their coverage of the sport is far superior to Dallas'. The newcomer was a great pick , too---granted she is my daughter. And the small amount of play time she had last year may have disqualified her for newcomer in some quarters, in which case the award should have gone to Emily Jones of Martin. These were the two new players having the biggest impact in one of the toughest districts in the state. For the most part, I have been very pleased with and enjoyed your coverage of high school volleyball in Texas. But, I feel like the comments made about the Star Telegram were way off base. - Mary Jo, Arlington (posted 1/3/02)

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Just curious as to how the rankings were done. One individual or several coaches polled? Not questioning the rankings, just wanted to know how they came about. Thanks for all the hard work! - TG, San Antonio (posted 1/1/03)

Editor's note: Our club rankings are compiled the same way we did the high schools rankings. The editors make the final decisions based on our personal observations watching the top teams and players over the past few seasons along with ongoing input from coaches, club directors and other people whose opinions we respect.