Prepvolleyball.com has released its preseason top 100 national rankings, and Buchholz is 92nd.

The Bobcats finished 24-6 with a final ranking of 233 last year. Buchholz was the only team to take a game from eventual FHSAA Class 6A state champion Winter Park in last year’s playoffs, and the Bobcats ” led by five experienced seniors ” likely will be this season’s 6A title favorites.

The only other in-state team to make the top 100 is defending 5A champ Tampa Plant at No. 35.

P.K. Yonge just missed the rankings, and are listed as a “team on the bubble.”

In past years the Blue Wave, Gainesville and Oak Hall have more often than not found themselves representing the area at the final four. This season the Eagles once again look like a lock to return, and P.K. Yonge will be one of the favorites in a difficult region. The Hurricanes graduated more talent than any area team last year, but coaches Cindy Boulware and Chad Davis always seem to have GHS playing at an elite level ” never, never look past the purple princesses of this court.

In addition I expect Buchholz to roll to the school’s first volleyball state championship, and I believe this will be the year that Santa Fe ” after two straight regional final heartbreaks ” gets by Jacksonville Bishop Kenny and finds its way to Lakeland.

The middle of November could be quite busy locally.