Inland volleyball notes: Coaches react to first CIF Southern Section in-season rankings

The CIF Southern Section released its first in-season girls volleyball rankings Tuesday morning.

This marks the first season that playoff divisions will be determined by in-season results. In recent years, teams were placed into playoff divisions based on results from the previous two seasons.

The section is using the Massey Ratings System for volleyball. The system connects teams via an equation. And as more matches are played, eventually each team is connected to every other team through a chain.

The section will provide updated rankings each Tuesday through the end of the regular season.

Here are the Top 15 Inland teams in the first rankings: Murrieta Valley (15), Temecula Valley (19), Etiwanda (20), Ontario Christian (25), Roosevelt (29), Centennial (39), Beaumont (42), Great Oak (43), Chaparral (45), Redlands (47), Yucaipa (48), Paloma Valley (55), Hillcrest (56), Temecula Prep (61) and Los Osos (66).

The full ratings can be found on the CIF Southern Section website: cifss.org

Coaches are still trying to wrap their heads around the ins and outs of the system, but most seem supportive.

"I would love to see the formula and how the data we're giving them is affecting the ratings," Paloma Valley coach Stephen Kaas said. "But overall, I believe this will put teams in divisions they will be competitive in."

Ontario Christian coach Paige Liebhart also supports the new system, saying there will be no human biases when it comes to seedings for the playoffs. In past years, a weekly coach's poll helped determine top seeds.

"There's never going to a 'perfect' way to do this, but this seems to be a good way to do things at the moment," Liebhart said. "It's going to be really interesting to see how things play out every week."

Murrieta Valley coach Ann Romero-Parks was not surprised to see her team ranked first among Inland teams. The Nighthawks have posted strong results, including a tournament win over Redondo (No. 4).

"I've always been of an opinion that you have to play everyone at some point, so there's no need to worry or complain about it," Romero-Parks said. "When the playoff brackets come out, we'll play who they give us."

One concern coaches do have is that early matches will be weighted similarly to ones later in the season. The section's sit-out period ended Sept. 14, and several teams in the section will receive a boost from transfers.

Citrus Valley scored its biggest win of the season Tuesday evening, as the Blackhawks outlasted defending Citrus Belt League champion Redlands in five sets. That snapped Redlands' 20-match league win streak.

The victory also was Citrus Valley's first over its crosstown rival since the 2019 season.

The Blackhawks (8-4 overall, 1-0 in league) have been led this season by senior outside hitter Makenna Tillman (3.5 kills per set, 3.1 digs per set) and sophomore libero Sophia Swogger (four digs per set).

Citrus Valley travels to Beaumont on Thursday.

Thursday: Roosevelt hosts Centennial in a battle of Big VIII League title contenders. Roosevelt pulled out a five-set win over Santiago on Tuesday. Centennial has swept its first two league matches.

Thursday: Paloma Valley hosts Hillcrest in an Ivy League showdown. Paloma Valley has posted sweeps in its first two league matches. Hillcrest knocked off Rancho Christian in five sets last week.

Monday: Etiwanda hosts Rancho Cucamonga in a battle of crosstown Baseline League rivals.

Tuesday: Yucaipa hosts Redlands in Citrus Belt League action.

Sept. 25: West Valley hosts Elsinore in Mountain Pass League action.

Sept. 27-28: Roosevelt and Santiago co-host the annual Freeway Games tournament. Roosevelt defeated Redlands in last year's championship match.

Sept. 30: Murrieta Valley hosts Temecula Valley in a Southwestern League showdown.

NOTABLE STAT LEADERS

• Don Lugo senior outside hitter Morgan Graves ranks third in the CIF Southern Section with 302 kills, according to the Maxpreps.com database. Other Inland players in the Top 10 are Centennial sophomore outside hitter Asia Udo-Ema (260, sixth), Paloma Valley senior outside hitter Lara Martinez (243, eighth) and Murrieta Mesa junior outside hitter Emerson Macias (226, ninth).

• Graves leads the section with a .623 attacking percentage, while Corona senior middle blocker Hannah Hass is second with a .509 percentage.

• Centennial sophomore setter Londyn Neal ranks fifth in the section with 476 assists.

• Calvary Baptist has the section's two aces leaders: junior libero Kaylin Crewe (77) and sophomore setter Aubrey Gelskey (75).

• Tahquitz sophomore middle blocker Marley Tuliau is seventh in the section with 60 blocks.

• Eisenhower sophomore libero Emily Cruz is second in the section with 348 digs, while Fontana senior libero ranks fifth with 288 digs.