Nothing gets the volleyball season going like the early action in the state of Texas. There have been many tournament across the state so far, including events that vballrecruiter.com has been at with the Mansfield Invitational and NorthWest Classic. As exciting and entertaining as those tournaments were, the action is about to take a step up believe it or not. This week features Volleypalooza hosted by Rouse that runs Thurs-Saturday across nine high schools in the greater Austin area. Once more vballrecruiter.com is going to be on hand providing daily coverage. The field is absolutely loaded, with national No. 1 Prestonwood Christian TX leading the charge, along with No. 2 Mater Dei CA and No. 7 Cathedral Catholic CA, which earned our national champion award last season after going undefeated. Mater Dei is making a return trip to the tournament after winning it in 2021. Cornerstone Christian TX – the defending champion and runner-up at the recent Ann Kang Invitational in Hawaii – is not in the field this season, but defending 6A state champion Dripping Springs TX is. Below we take a look at the top players competing as well as make our predicition for the eventual champion.

Number of Teams: 68 Teams

vballrecruiter.com Preseason Nationally-Ranked Teams (7):
• 1. Prestonwood Christian TX
• 2. Mater Dei CA
• 7. Cathedral Catholic CA
• 10. Prosper TX
• 19. Dripping Springs
• 29. Colleyville Heritage TX
• 36. Keller TX

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5-STAR ATHLETES TO KNOW

Ayden Ames SR OH Prosper TX (Nebraska)
Favor Anyanwu SR OH Sachse TX (USC)
Jaela Auguste SR MB Grand Oaks TX (Florida)
Camille Edwards SR S Prestonwood Christian TX (Michigan)
Jadyn Livings SR RS Prestonwood Christian TX (USC)
Cari Spears JR OH Prestonwood Christian TX
Gillian Pitts JR L Prestonwood Christian TX (Houston)
Suli Davis JR OH Colleyville Heritage TX
Liliana Brisco JR S Clark TX
Kassidy O’Brien JR S Cinco Ranch (Kentucky)
Addy Gaido JR RS Georgetown TX (Texas)
Samara Coleman JR OH Grand Oaks TX (Pitt)
Henley Anderson SO OH Drippings Springs TX
Halle Thompson SO OH Grand Oaks TX
Riley Malloy SO OH Austin TX
Layli Ostovar SO OH Mater Dei CA
Keoni Williams SO MB Boswell TX
Layla Austin SO OH Southlake Carroll TX
Kinsley Young SO MB Southlake Carroll TX
Danielle Whitmire SO S/RS Walnut Grove TX
Allie Hudgins FR OH Westlake TX
Naomi Livings FR OH Prestonwood Christian TX
Nyla Livings FR MB Prestonwood Christian TX

4-STAR ATHLETES TO KNOW

Savannah Skopal SR S Rouse TX (Rice)
Lolo Lambert SR OH Plano East TX (Arkansas)
Kennedy Washington SR MB Prestonwood Christian TX
Mikala Young SR OH Prestonwood Christian TX (TCU)
Isabel Clark SR OH Mater Dei CA (San Diego)
Cymarah Gordon SR RS Mater Dei CA (Michigan)
Jenna Hanes SR MB Cathedral Catholic CA (Michigan)
Amanda Saeger SR S Cathedral Catholic CA (DePaul)
Alice Volpe SR L Bridgeland TX (TCU)
Anna Boatner SR MB Keller TX (UCSB)
Taylor Clarke JR RS Prestonwood Christian TX
Callie Krueger JR L Cedar Park TX (Texas)
Lily Dee Davis JR OH Westlake TX (Texas beach)
Rebekah Pfefferkorn JR MB Bridgeland TX
Sarah Mendoza JR L Colleyville Heritage
Taylor Porter JR OH Cypress Ranch TX (Vanderbilt)
Taylor Cook JR S Prestonwood Christian TX (Kansas)
Hannah Beauford JR S Prosper TX
Bella Ocampo JR OH Highland Park TX (LMU)
Alex Richter JR OH Highland Park TX (Georgia)
Madison Winkler JR L Keller TX
Maya Evens JR L Cathedral Catholic CA (Maryland)
Anna Flores SO S/RS Keller TX
Sarah Hickman SO RS Stratford TX
Sydney Lund SO S Dripping Springs TX
Camille Presley FR MB Austin TX

OUTLOOK: After a slip-up against Boyd in which Prestonwood Christian suffered its first loss of the season, the question is can the top-ranked team in the country re-establish itself as the team to beat? Winning Volleypalooza would go a long way toward that, especially considering Prestonwood still has the Nike TOC Southwest in Tampa and the Durango Fall Classic in Las Vegas on its schedule. Both offer another opportunity to proclaim its dominance. However, not just for Prestonwood, but any school hoping to walk away this weekend with the coveted tournament trophy must persevere through a talented and loaded field. Mater Dei and Cathedral Catholic are two California schools looking to make a name for themselves and prove they too are among the best in the nation. Grand Oaks TX, Lake Travis TX and Dripping Springs are off to strong starts and figure to factor into Saturday’s gold bracket. The first two days of action feature pool play, where we are likely to see a few surprises and upsets that could ruffle the field.

PREDICTION: No matter how it all plays out, we are predicting Volleypalooza to be among the best tournaments in the country this season. Given the teams here, it’s hard to think there is going to be any letdown. The pick is for to Prestonwood to indeed rise up and show what all the preseason excitement was about and it’ll do so by beating Grand Oaks in the final.