High School Rankings: Mother McAuley Wins Illinois State Championship

High School Rankings: Mother McAuley Wins Illinois State Championship

Illinois Class 4A state champion Mother McAuley held its high ranking, while Oak Ridge of Texas remains undefeated and No. 1 in the ASICS Flo50 Girls' High School Volleyball Rankings.

Nov 17, 2016 by Megan Kaplon
High School Rankings: Mother McAuley Wins Illinois State Championship
No. 2 Mother McAuley of Chicago secured no worse than the second spot in the nation at the end of the season by winning the Illinois Class 4A state title with a 2-1 victory over Minooka this past Saturday.

The Mighty Macs, who won the 15th state title in program history, ended the season on a 32-match win streak and captured their first state title since 2013. Junior outside hitter Charley Niego put the finishing touches on the win by scoring the final point of the night and collecting a team-high 14 kills in addition to 15 digs.

With Mother McAuley done at 40-1, it's now down to either the Mighty Macs or unbeaten Oak Ridge of Conroe, Texas, to be this year's ASICS Flo50 national champion.

Click here to see this week's ASICS Flo50 Girls' High School Volleyball Rankings.


For the fourth time this season, the War Eagles defeated The Woodlands this past week and advanced in the Texas Class 6A state playoffs with a 3-1 win over the Highlanders. Brooke Clark had a double-double with 18 kills and 15 digs, while fellow senior Hannah Mikelonis' 10 kills made her the only other player in double-digits. Junior Carly Graham had 38 assists and Raigen Cianciulli posted a match-high 36 digs. 

In this week's state semifinals, Oak Ridge will take on defending champion Hebron (No. 15 in this week's rankings) and with a win would face either Clear Creek of League City (No. 16) or Reagan of San Antonio (No. 19) in Saturday's state final.

Bishop Moore of Orlando, Florida, also wrapped up a top-five final national ranking this past weekend. Not only did the Hornets end the season on a 13-match winning streak, but they also did it without losing a set as they defeated Ponte Vedra in straight sets to capture the Class 6A state championship. It also was Bishop Moore's second straight state championship and fourth in the past five seasons, despite having just two seniors on the roster. One of those two seniors is Texas A&M-bound Morgan Davis, who went 12 for 12 on swings and had the match-winning block. 

Bishop Moore's only loss on the season ended up being to Mater Dei (Santa Ana, California) at the Nike Tournament of Champions in Arizona. Mater Dei is still No. 4 in this week's rankings, having recently lost to third-ranked Santa Margarita (Rancho Santa Margarita, CA) in the CIF Southern Section Division I championship. Both teams are now playing in the CIF Southern California Open Division playoffs and could play for a fifth time this season next week.

Top Newcomer to This Week's Rankings


New No. 36 Brecksville-Broadview Heights (Broadview Heights, Ohio) has one of the longest school name and city-state combinations we've ever seen. But the Bees just couldn't be denied a major bump this week. They avenged their only loss of the season in the Division I state semifinals against Walsh Jesuit (Cayahoga Falls) and then won the title over Mt. Notre Dame of Cincinnati. Ohio's top-ranked team heading into the final week, previously unbeaten Lake Catholic of Mentor, was upset in the Division II state semifinals by Padua Franciscan.