MaxPreps Volleyball Rankings: Gulf Breeze ranked fourth across state of Florida, first in 6A

Now that a majority of high school volleyball teams across the state have played in at least three games, the MaxPreps rankings continue to take shape.

Even if we are still several weeks from any sort of playoff race in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties.

District tournaments are still a little more than a month away, going from Oct. 14-18 at different venues across the state. However, a few Pensacola-area volleyball teams have already staked their claim as some of the best in their respective district, region – and even across the state of Florida.

Gulf Breeze, which has won the last five titles for District 1-6A, is ranked among Florida's best, slotting in at No. 4 overall as of Tuesday morning. The Dolphins are already 11-0, and have yet to concede a set to any opponent.

While every team makes the district tournament, each champion will earn an automatic bid into the regional tournament, as well as the next four highest-ranked teams within each region that did not win the district crown.

Region tournaments are slated to span from Oct. 22, when the quarterfinals for Classes 1A-3A begin, and will conclude on Oct. 7 with the region finals for Classes 4A-7A. The Florida High School Athletic Association will be using MaxPreps rankings to determine the four at-large bids.

The state tournament, which will be at Polk State College, is scheduled for Nov. 4-9.

Here are the latest MaxPreps volleyball rankings for teams from Escambia and Santa Rosa counties as of Tuesday (Sept. 3) morning. Matches played that evening are not included in the MaxPreps rankings.

Class 6A

• Gulf Breeze (26.48) – first in District 1-6A, first in Region 1-6A, first in Class 6A, fourth overall in state (strength of schedule: 10.3)
• Navarre (18.20) – third in District 1-6A, fifth in Region 1-6A, fifth in Class 6A, 37th overall in state (strength of schedule: 9.7)
• Pace (13.28) – fourth in District 1-6A, sixth in Region 1-6A, ninth in Class 6A, 76th overall in state (strength of schedule: 10.7)
• Tate (8.73) – sixth in District 1-6A, 12th in Region 1-6A, 18th in Class 6A, 139th overall in state (strength of schedule: 10.9)
• Milton (-4.78) – seventh in District 1-6A, 24th in Region 1-6A, 62nd in Class 6A, 424th overall in state (strength of schedule: 4.6)

Class 5A

• Booker T. Washington (0.90) – fourth in District 1-5A, 12th in Region 1-5A, 37th in Class 5A, 315th overall in state (strength of schedule: 19.5)
• Escambia (-9.70) – fifth in District 1-5A, 18th in Region 1-5A, 63rd in Class 5A, 510th overall in state (strength of schedule: -1.3)

*Note: Pine Forest, as of Tuesday morning, has only played two games on the year. MaxPreps adds a team to the rankings after three games have been played. The Eagles will play their third game on Wednesday at West Florida

Class 4A

• West Florida (5.84) – first in District 1-4A, fifth in Region 1-4A, 24th in Class 4A, 200th overall in state (strength of schedule: 2.8)
• Pensacola (4.57) – second in District 1-4A, seventh in Region 1-4A, 27th in Class 4A, 219th overall in state (strength of schedule: -1.2)

Class 3A

• Pensacola Catholic (3.75) – second in District 1-3A, fourth in Region 1-3A, 31st in Class 3A, 229th overall in state (strength of schedule: 8.5)

Class 1A

• LEAD Academy (-17.10) – fifth in District 1-1A, 21st in Region 1-1A, 65th in Class 1A, 579th overall in state (strength of schedule: -0.5)

Rural

• Jay (10.14) – first in District 1-R, second in Region 1-R, fourth in Rural overall, 115th overall in state (strength of schedule: -6.1)
• Central (-3.94) – fourth in District 1-R, seventh in Region 1-R, 21st in Rural overall, 405th overall in state (strength of schedule: 0.3)
• Northview (-4.81) – fifth in District 1-R, eighth in Region 1-R, 23rd in Rural overall, 426th overall in state (strength of schedule: 1.3)

Way-too-early playoff watch

District tournaments aren't for another month-and-a-half, but it's still fun to take a look at what the playoff scenarios would look like if the regular season ended today as far as region tournaments.

Unlike football, volleyball advances based on district champions through a tournament (and those seeds are based off rankings), as well as the four at-large bids. The Rural classification is a bit different, with only the district champions (2) plus two at-large bids moving on. For the below playoff watch, we'll presume that the top team in each district wins the district tournament and moves onto regionals – that's what we're going to share below.

Rankings are bound to change after district tournaments as well, so we'll pretend that they didn't change at all through districts to make things a little easier. Remember: anything can happen in the playoffs.

Here's what the region tournaments would look like.

Region 1-6A

• No. 1 Gulf Breeze* vs. No. 8 Fletcher*
• No. 2 Niceville vs. No. 7 East River
• No. 3 Oviedo* vs. No. 6 Pace
• No. 4 Lake Minneola* vs. No. 5 Navarre

It's safe to say that District 1 would essentially run the region tournament, with four teams within the top eight seeds of the entire region. The four district champions would be Gulf Breeze (1), Oviedo (3), Lake Minneola (4) and Fletcher (2). Since Gulf Breeze is the higher seed, the Dolphins would host Fletcher even with the latter being district champs. Pace and Navarre would have to hit the road to start the region tournament.

Region 1-5A

• No. 1 Ponte Vedra* vs. No. 8 Beachside
• No. 2 Middleburg* vs. No. 7 Leon
• No. 3 Chiles* vs. No. 6 Choctaw
• No. 4 Mosley* vs. No. 5 Fleming Island

Region 1-5A is pretty cut and dry: the top four seeds are district champions – with Ponte Vedra (4), Middleburg (3), Chiles (2) and Mosley (1). Escambia and Santa Rosa counties wouldn't have any local representation at the region tournament if the season ended today, as Booker T. Washington is the highest-ranked area team in Region 1, seeded 12th currently.

Region 1-4A

• No. 1 Bishop Kenny* vs. No. 8 South Walton
• No. 2 Baker County vs. No. 7 Pensacola
• No. 3 Yulee* vs. No. 6 Paxon
• No. 4 Suwannee* vs. No. 5 West Florida*

District 1 would also have a good amount of representation at the region tournament, with three teams featured as of now. All four district champions – Bishop Kenny (4), Yulee (3), Suwannee (2) and West Florida (1) – are within the top eight-ranked teams, so no jumping here either. West Florida, however, would have to travel to Suwannee as the latter is a district champion. Pensacola would hit the road and go to Baker County.

Region 1-3A

• No. 1 North Bay Haven* vs. No. 8 Freeport
• No. 2 Baldwin* vs. No. 7 Fernandina Beach
• No. 3 Bolles* vs. No. 6 Taylor County*
• No. 4 Pensacola Catholic vs. No. 5 Episcopal

Plain and simple, once again: the top team in each district – North Bay Haven (1), Baldwin (3), Bolles (4) and Taylor County (2) – are ranked in the top eight teams in Region 1. Pensacola Catholic, second in District 1 and currently fourth in Region 1, would still earn the right to host as the higher seed against Episcopal. Bolles would host Taylor County based on seeding despite both being district champions.

Region 1-1A

• No. 1 Harvest Community* vs. No. 8 Eagle's View
• No. 2 Meadowbrook* vs. No. 7 Hernando Christian
• No. 3 St. John Lutheran vs. No. 6 North Florida Christian*
• No. 4 Christ's Church Academy* vs. No. 5 Beaches Chapel

Escambia and Santa Rosa counties wouldn't have any area teams in the Region 1-1A tournament, either. Just like the other regions above, all district champions – Harvest Community (2), Meadowbrook (4), Christ's Church Academy (3), and North Florida Christian (1) – are within the top eight teams. However, North Florida Christian, as a district champion, would be able to host third-seeded St. John Lutheran, out of District 4.

Region 1-Rural

• No. 1 Chipley* vs. No. 4 Baker
• No. 2 Jay* vs. No. 3 Cottondale

Since there are only four teams making it into the regional tournament, this one is a little easier to break down. Both district champions in Region 1 – Chipley (2) and Jay (1) – would host. Chipley would take on District 1's Baker and Jay would host District 2's Cottondale. Both Central and Northview, within the top eight of the region, would be left out.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: MaxPreps Volleyball Rankings: Gulf Breeze ranked fourth across state of Florida, first in 6A