This is “Dots,” VolleyballMag.com’s weekly look at 10 things in high school volleyball, past or present, that interest me and hopefully will interest you. Look for Dots every Tuesday until the last high school state championship in November:
• Cornerstone Christian of San Antonio is heating up. The Warriors are now 18-1 and winners of nine in a row after going 6-0 over the weekend to win the Nike Tournament of Champions Southeast in Florida. Cornerstone Christian dominated previously unbeaten Sunshine State foe Carrollwood Day in the championship match.
Warrior standouts included OH Megan Fitch, who was named MVP after contributing 68 kills, 39 digs and seven aces over 13 sets. RS Grace Carroll (40 kills; nine blocks) and Kaia Thiele (80 assists; 31 digs) also made the All-Tournament team.
Coach Mike Carter said that his team played its best match in the quarterfinals versus Bishop Gorman of Las Vegas. Both Berkeley Prep of Tampa and Winter Park provided stiff competition for Cornerstone Christian.
• Last year, Cornerstone Christian finished 55-2, playing an independent schedule that had the Warriors traveling out of state several times. One of the two losses came at the Nike ToC Southeast, in the championship match to surprising Westminster Christian of Miami. Westminster went on to win 27 straight in the regular season before being dumped by Clearwater Central Catholic in the Florida 3A championship match.
Westminster Christian, also known as the “Warriors,” didn’t fare quite as well at the ToC this year. Despite returning several of its top players, including Gigi Artiles, one of the nation’s top sophomores, the Miami school, famously home to baseball Hall of Famer Alex Rodriguez, lost to Viera (and Colorado transplant Izzyy Starck) in pool play, then fell twice more, to Calvary Christian of Clearwater and Tampa Plant, in bracket play.
• The Tournament of Champions is actually three tournaments in one. Cornerstone Christian won the National division. The Premier Division went to Ransom-Everglades (my alma mater!) of Miami. Westminster Academy prevailed in the Elite Division.
• In the days leading up to the ToC, the Washington Post ran a feature on Mehdi El Alaoui, the veteran coach of Virginia private school power Bishop O’Connell, the two-time reigning Washington…
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