Prep volleyball: Ballard leads Clovis to 18th-place finish at Durango Classic + rankings
Behind 110 kills from junior Taylen Ballard, Clovis High finished 18th at the 63-team Durango Fall Volleyball Classic in Las Vegas on Saturday.
The Cougars went 5-2 overall at the tournament, including 2-1 while finishing second in pool play and capped by a 25-14, 25-12 loss to Iolani-Hawaii in the Bronze bracket final.
Clovis (17-8) had the best finish among five Central Section schools in the field, followed by Liberty-Bakersfield at No. 26, Clovis West at No. 43, Independence at No. 49 and Buchanan at No. 51.
The Cougars remain No. 2 in The Bee’s section rankings, behind Centennial, which swept three-setters against Saugus of the Southern Section and El Diamante last week.
The biggest gainer in this week’s rankings is Exeter, which went 6-0 en route to winning the Visalia Invitational.
The Monarchs, who debut in the Top 15 at No. 14, beat previous No. 14 Bakersfield Christian 19-25, 25-23, 15-11 in the final with Olivia Harden (13 kills) and Amanda Acosta (12 kills) leading the way.
Harden delivered 51 kills, 23 digs, seven aces and three blocks, while Acota added 46 kills, 75 digs, eight aces and three blocks during the tournament for Exeter (15-2).
This week will see some ranking-shaker matches with No. 4 Liberty visiting No. 5 Clovis West today and a trio of biggies Thursday: No. 3 Independence at No. 1 Centennial, No. 6 Central at No. 9 Frontier and No. 11 Central Valley Christian at No. 8 Buchanan.
CENTRAL SECTION VOLLEYBALL RANKINGS
THE BEE’S TOP 15
(Records through Sept. 19)
- 1. Centennial 15-4
- 2. Clovis 17-8
- 3. Independence 6-2
- 4. Liberty-Bakersfield 20-5
- 5. Clovis West 16-7
- 6. Central 23-4
- 7. Garces 12-5
- 8. Buchanan 10-7
- 9. Frontier 16-5
- 10. Clovis East 8-3
- 11. Central Valley Christian 14-7
- 12. Bakersfield 4-8
- 13. Clovis North 8-8
- 14. Exeter 15-2
- 15. Bakersfield Christian 11-6
DIVISIONAL TOP 3
- D-I: 1. Centennial; 2. Clovis; 3. Liberty-Bakerfieldd
- D-II: 1. Independence; 2. Garces; 3. CVC
- D-III: 1. Bakersfield Christian; 2. Memorial 4-1; 3. Mission Oak 9-3
- D-IV: 1. Sierra 10-0; 2. Minarets 9-3; 3. Liberty-Madera Ranchos 13-2
- D-V: 1. Frazier Mountain 11-6; 2. Immanuel 3-4; 3. California City 13-4-2
This story was originally published September 21, 2015 at 5:06 PM with the headline "Prep volleyball: Ballard leads Clovis to 18th-place finish at Durango Classic + rankings."