BUMP, SET, SPIKE: Private school volleyball title runs wrap this weekend
Concordia Lutheran is a sleeper in DI TAPPS playoffs
The private school volleyball championships are on deck.
The TAPPS semifinals and championships are Friday–Saturday, Nov. 6–7, at sites around Waco, with 6A and 5A both at Robinson High School. The SPC is also this weekend.
Class 6A (“DI”) — Friday at Robinson HS
Semifinals:
Nolan Catholic (25-11) vs. Prestonwood (40-4), 4 p.m.
Antonian (45-4) vs. Concordia Lutheran (24-21), 7 p.m.
Championship: 4 p.m. Saturday at Robinson.
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The headliner: Prestonwood. The nation’s 10th-ranked team swept Bishop Lynch 25-17, 25-16, 25-17 in the regional round to run its win streak to 15 and set up the Nolan semifinal. This is a revenge tour: Prestonwood won three straight 6A titles from 2022-24, then lost in the regional round last fall to Bishop Lynch (3-1), who went on to the final. The Lions are back and look like the class of the field. "Prestonwood has that look again," VYPE's Matt Ogle said. "The are the hands down favorite, but don't count out Antonian."
Antonian is the defending champ. Bishop Lynch fell to Antonian 3-1 in last year’s 6A final. The Apaches come in 45-4 after beating Katy St. John XXIII 3-1 (25-27, 25-11, 25-15, 25-12) in the regional. Antonian also won the 2017 title over Prestonwood, and the two have met in multiple finals (2023, 2024), so a Saturday rematch is the expected storyline.
Concordia Lutheran is the Cinderella. At 24-21, the Crusaders beat San Antonio Incarnate Word 3-1 in the first round and are back in the state semifinals for the third time in four years. This is a program with real history here: they won the 2016 6A title and took Prestonwood to five sets in the 2018 final, losing 26-28, 16-25, 25-19, 25-19, 15-13 after leading two sets to none. They lost 3-0 to Antonian in the 2024 semis and to Prestonwood in the 2023 semis.
Nolan Catholic (25-11) is the 2025 semifinalist that lost to Bishop Lynch in four sets last year. They will have their hands full against Prestonwood.
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Class 5A (“DII”) — Friday at Robinson HS
Semifinals
Southwest Christian (32-1) vs. All Saints Episcopal (17-14), 10 a.m.
Cypress Christian (32-5) vs. Fort Bend Christian (20-9), 1 p.m.
Championship: 1 p.m. Saturday at Robinson.
Cypress Christian vs. Fort Bend Christian — the all-Houston semifinal, and a third meeting. These are District 5 rivals and Cypress Christian has won both regular-season meetings: a 2-1 escape on Sept. 24 (Bella Thomas 35 assists/12 digs, Sarah Troxel 16 digs/13 kills) and a 3-0 sweep on Oct. 13 that snapped FBCA’s 12-match home winning streak. The Warriors got here the hard way, surviving San Antonio Christian in five (25-23, 25-23, 14-25, 22-25, 15-8) in the regional, while FBCA swept Schertz John Paul II 3-0. Cypress Christian’s balanced attack (Troxel, Thomas, Karly Schielack) against an FBCA program that won the 5A title in 2021, was runner-up in 2022, and reached the 2024 final after sweeping Woodlands Legacy in the semis.
Prospectus: Cypress Christian is the favorite on form, but a third meeting between rivals is never a lock — FBCA has already seen everything they run.
Southwest Christian at 32-1 is the clear top seed on the other side. All Saints beat Southwest Christian in the 2024 semis (25-21, 25-21, 20-25, 25-16) and went on to that year’s final, so this is a rematch of a Fort Worth rivalry that All Saints won last time it mattered. At 17-14, All Saints is a long shot.
The Prediction: Southwest Christian vs. the Cypress Christian/FBCA winner for the title, which would be a Houston team’s shot at the Fort Worth juggernaut.
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The rest of TAPPS
- 4A
- Pantego Christian (33-5) vs. Plano Coram Deo (22-7-3), 4 p.m. Fri.
- Boerne Geneva (24-18) vs. Bryan Brazos Christian (29-11), 7 p.m. Fri.
- 3A
- Abilene Christian (35-8) vs. Lucas Christian (22-4), 10 a.m.
- Temple Central Texas Christian (36-8) vs. Spring Providence Classical (29-12), 1 p.m.
- 2A
- Lubbock All Saints (25-10) vs. Red Oak Ovilla Christian (31-7), 4 p.m.
- Bryan St. Joseph (22-3-1) vs. Shiner St. Paul (29-4), 7 p.m.
- 1A
- Wichita Falls Christ Academy (21-18) vs. Amarillo Accelerate (17-15), 10 a.m.
- San Marcos Hill Country Christian (20-7) vs. Kingwood Covenant Prep (18-3), 1 p.m
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SPC — Volleyball Championships this Week
4A standings
Greenhill - 8-0
Hockaday - 7-1
Episcopal - 5-3
John Cooper - 5-3
Houston Christian - 5-3
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The Hockaday three-peat chase. The Daisies are the two-time defending 4A champs: they beat St. John’s for the 2024 title (Olivia Wayne 19 kills, 12 digs, 5 blocks) without dropping an SPC set, and beat Episcopal in last year’s final. But this fall Hockaday is the 2-seed behind an 8-0 Greenhill — the same Greenhill team Hockaday beat 3-0 for third/fourth place last year. Hockaday was 25-16 as of Oct. 21 and swept Kinkaid 25-11, 25-11, 25-19.
Episcopal. The Knights (21-9 overall) are the best Houston hope — they swept Kinkaid Oct. 8 but lost 0-3 to Hockaday Oct. 3, which is the gap they have to close. John Cooper and Houston Christian are also 5-3 and in the mix for a semifinal spot; St. John’s is the 2024 finalist but finished 3-5. Kinkaid, VYPE’s usual private-school standard-bearer, is having a down volleyball year at 2-6 in SPC and 5-17 overall.
3A: a new member at the top. Saint Mary’s Hall (San Antonio), in its first SPC season, went 7-0 in conference and is the 3A top seed. Trinity Valley, a recent 3A champion, finished 1-6, so the bracket is wide open behind SMH and 6-1 St. Andrew’s.
The SPC hasn’t posted the volleyball bracket/times yet; last year’s event ran Thursday–Saturday in Houston with quarterfinals, semis and a consolation round.
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DeSoto four-star DL K'Adrian Redmond (Texas Tech commit)Photo by Alex Hinson (VYPE)
Waxahachie senior edge rusher Sedrick Marsh Jr. (Kansas State commit)Photo by Jackson DiPasquale (VYPE)
