Volleyball: Defending champs top preseason rankings

Only Walton could successfully defend its state championship last year and the Raiders took home the state title for a fourth consecutive season. The Raiders lost a lot of size from last year’s team with Jessica Sloan and Leah Jackson graduating, but they return sophomore captain and 2013 MaxPreps Underclassmen All-American Celeste Fitzgerald. South Forsyth drops in at No. 2 after opening the season with a 3-0 sweep over North Gwinnett. Harrison, Johns Creek and Chattahoochee are consistent playoff contenders and round out the top five.

In Class AAAAA, defending state champion McIntosh debuts at No. 1. Wendy Weaver’s team graduated five seniors, but returns a solid core of young talent. Class AAAA is headlined by No. 1 Marist and reclassification made this possibly the most competitive classification in the state. The War Eagles fell to Columbus in the state championship last year but have opened the season with sweeps over North Springs, Wesleyan, Pace Academy and Holy Innocents’. Columbus comes in at No. 5 behind St. Pius, which debuts in Class AAAA at No. 2 after claiming the Class AAA state title last season, as well as No. 3 Woodward Academy and No. 4 Buford, which were also sent into Class AAAA from Class AAA.

Class AAA is headlined by a pair of state runners-up. Westminster comes in at No. 1 after falling to Wesleyan in last year’s Class AA state championship and Blessed Trinity sits at No. 2 after its runner-up season in Class AAA. Class A is led by Hebron Christian and Eagle’s Landing Christian debuts at No. 2 after posting an early sweep over Class AAAAA Northgate this week.