GAMES
RANKINGS
Concordia Lutheran is a sleeper in DI TAPPS playoffs
BUMP, SET, SPIKE: Private school volleyball title runs wrap this weekend
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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THE POWER RANKINGS: Westlake turns out the lights on local rivals
A blown transformer knocked out the lights at Chapparal Stadium midway through the second quarter with top-ranked Westlake already comfortably ahead of second-ranked Cedar Ridge last Friday night (10/30).
That, my friends, is what you call a metaphor. The Chaps completed their 56-21 throttling of the Raiders the next day and essentially turned out the lights on the 2026 Power Rankings (and the District 25-6A race) heading into the final week of the regular season.
Dripping Springs slipped past the Raiders to #2 with Cedar Ridge holding at #3 heading into their showdown with fellow RRISD rival Round Rock. Cedar Park’s win sent the T-wolves to the clubhouse with a Week-11 Bye at #4, ahead of the Dragons who stumbled against still dangerous Lake Travis.
#6 Hutto and #7 Vandegrift lurk just outside the Top 5 heading into this week’s finale with Lake Travis ready to leapfrog them both. #9 Weiss maintains its spot as the highest ranked 5A club while Bowie notched an impressive bounce back win to round out the Top 10.
Anderson heads-up the second tier, just ahead of Wimberley, the highest of the 4A teams, also knocking on the Top 10 door. The Texans stepped over Rouse and Liberty Hill after the Raiders’ loss at Vandegrift and the Panthers enjoyed their Bye.
Bastrop continues to get healthier as the Bears climb to #16 – and get what amounts to a second Bye with LASA forfeiting the balance of its season, including this week’s scheduled game with the Bears. 4A Lago Vista moved up to #17 with Legacy Ranch slipping back a spot to #18. Hays moved up to #19 with Pflugerville re-entering the Rankings at #20.
TAPPS playoffs start this week as the private schools began their season a week before the UIL schools. Regents capped off another impressive regular season with a win to clinch the top spot in the Rankings ahead of St. Michael’s, who stumbled in their finale. Hyde Park, Hill Country Christian and Brentwood Christian round out the final Top 5 with the SPC’s St. Andrew’s right there with them.
Hard to believe there’s just one week left in the 2026 season. We’ll be back with our final Power Rankings of the season next week
VYPE Austin Top 20 Combined Class 4A-6A
*Last parenthesis indicates most recent game result
1. (1) Westlake Chaparrals (6A) 8-1 (W 56-21 vs. #2 Cedar Ridge)
2. (3) Dripping Springs Tigers (6A) 7-1 (BYE)
3. (2) Cedar Ridge Raiders (6A) 8-1 (L 56-21 @ #1 Westlake)
4. (5) Cedar Park Timberwolves (6A) 10-0 (W 34-21 @ Vista Ridge)
5. (4) Round Rock Dragons (6A) 6-3 (L 31-14 vs. #8 Lake Travis)
6. (6) Hutto Hippos (6A) 7-2 (BYE)
7. (7) Vandegrift Vipers (6A) 6-3 (W 42-28 vs. #12 Rouse)
8. (8) Lake Travis Cavaliers (6A) 4-3-1 (W 31-14 @ #4 Round Rock)
9. (9) Weiss Wolves (5A-1) 7-2 (W 63-26 @ #19 Hendrickson)
10. (10) Bowie Bulldogs (6A) 7-2 (W 55-7 vs. Akins)
11. (11) Anderson Trojans (5A-1) 7-2 (W 63-0 vs. Cedar Creek)
12. (14) Wimberley Texans (4A-2) 8-0 (W 80-18 @ Manor New Tech)
13. (12) Rouse Raiders (6A) 4-5 (L 42-28 @ #7 Vandegrift)
14. (13) Liberty Hill Panthers (5A-2) 5-4 (BYE)
15. (15) Georgetown Eagles (5A-2) 5-4 (BYE)
16. (17) Bastrop Bears (5A-2) 5-4 (W 51-0 vs. Elgin)
17. (18) Lago Vista Vikings (4A-2) 7-2 (W 31-21 @ Giddings)
18. (16) Legacy Ranch Wranglers (5A-2) 5-4 (L 42-11 vs. Alamo Heights)
19. (20) Hays Hawks (6A) 5-4 (W 65-14 @ Del Valle)
20. (NR) Pflugerville Panthers (5A-2) 5-4 (W 76-0 @ Navarro)
On the Radar: Crockett (5-4), Manor (5-4)
VYPE Austin Top 5 Private Schools
*Last parenthesis indicates most recent game result
1. (1) Regents Knights (TAPPS D2) 8-1 (W 49-10 vs. San Antonio Christian)
2. (2) St. Michael’s Warriors (TAPPS D1) 6-4 (L 55-0 @ St. Thomas Catholic)
3. (3) Hyde Park Panthers (TAPPS D2) 7-3 (W 55-0 vs. St. Joseph Academy)
4. (4) Hill Country Christian Knights (TAPPS FL) 6-3 (BYE)
5. (5) Brentwood Christian (TAPPS FL) 7-2 (BYE)
On the Radar: St. Andrew’s (6-3)