DeLand’s senior defensive specialist, Kendall Ezell, said the secret to the Bulldogs’ girls volleyball success this year is relishing every practice, every match — win or lose.
“We really try to enjoy it all,” Ezell said with a big smile after her team completed a 22-3 regular season with a 3-0 win against Flagler Palm Coast on Tuesday. “We’ve really built a culture here. We play as one. We are one. We have a lot of fun.”
The fun continues Tuesday. The Bulldogs, who have two sophomores and two juniors as key players, are heavy favorites to cruise to the program’s seventh consecutive district title. Tuesday’s semifinals and Thursday’s final will be played at Spruce Creek High in Port Orange.
Tournament play begins Monday for teams across the state. Topping that list is Orangewood Christian (23-2), which is No. 1 in the FHSAA state rankings and No. 4 in the MaxPreps national rankings. The Rams will be home for a 2A District 4 semifinal Tuesday and the final on Thursday night.
The playoff picture has changed drastically this year — for volleyball, football and nine other team bracket sports — with the birth of the new Open Division. The top eight teams in the FHSAA power rankings will be pulled out of their classification and moved to the Open bracket.
Top-ranked Orangewood, No. 5 Winter Park and No 6 DeLand are positioned to be elevated to Open — alongside 3A Calvary Christian (Clearwater), 6A Tampa Plant, 3A Gulliver Prep (Miami), 2A First Baptist Academy (Naples), and 5A Archbishop McCarthy of Broward County.
Winter Park (19-6), which ended DeLand’s 2024 and 2025 seasons with region wins in its state championship runs, jumped the Bulldogs in this week’s rankings and is No. 2 in 6A behind Plant. The Wildcats returned only one starter — stellar senior Jordyn Lehman — but have steadily progressed under 38-year coach Stephanie Gibson. Lehman had a career-high 28 digs when Winter Park capped its regular season with a 25-22, 21-25, 25-18, 27-25 win against 12th-ranked Merritt Island.
DeLand beat Winter Park 27-25, 25-22, 25-18 in the first week of play. The ‘Dogs only losses are to Orangewood Christian (twice) and Alabama’s No. 1, McGill-Tooten (37-2).
Once the top eight teams are called up, that enhances the state championship chances for teams like The First Academy (16-6), which is in the same district as Orangewood. The Royals are No. 4 in 2A and would be the second seed in that 32-team bracket if Orangewood and First Baptist are competing in the Open Division.
Oviedo (22-3) and Horizon (20-3) would be the No. 2 and 4 seeds in 6A if rankings don’t change.
Bishop Moore (17-6), a seven-time state champion, is outside Open contention as the No. 14 team. But the Hornets are ranked No. 1 in 4A and have lost only to teams ranked in the top 10 of their class.
Open Division uncertainty clouds Orangewood volleyball playoff picture | Varsity Report
The FHSAA will update ratings after district finals are complete and is scheduled to unveil the Open Division and regional tournament pairings on Oct. 17 on YouTube.
Here are the favorites for each district involving area teams, based on FHSAA top 25 classification rankings:
6A District 3
• No. 3 DeLand (22-3)
• Note: Sophomore setter Kohen Kazmierczak leads area with 724 assists.
6A District 4
• No. 5 Oviedo (22-3)
• No. 10 Lake Brantley (13-10)
• No. 13 Seminole (15-8)
• Note: Oviedo beat Brantley and Seminole by 3-0 scores.
6A District 5
• No. 2 Winter Park (19-6)
• No. 24 Boone (15-9)
• No. 25 Lake Nona (12-7)
• Note: Winter Park has won 11 of its past 12 matches.
6A District 6
• No. 7 Horizon (20-3)
• No. 9 West Orange (14-4)
• No. 25 Olympia (13-11)
• Note: West Orange beat Horizon 3-0 in a season opener.
6A District 7
• No. 30 Freedom (19-6)
5A District 5
• No. 12 Gateway (18-2)
• No. 11 Osceola (17-6)
• No. 23 Lake Minneola (16-9)
• No. 25 Lake Howell (15-10)
• Note: Lake Minneola beat Osceola, which beat Gateway.
4A District 5
• No. 23 Mount Dora (10-9)
4A District 6
• No. 1 Bishop Moore (17-6)
• No. 4 Satellite (18-5)
• No. 14 New Smyrna Beach (15-10)
• Note: Bishop Moore beat Satellite 3-0 in a season opener.
3A District 5
• No. 19 Villages (17-8)
3A District 6
• No. 12 Lake Highland Prep (11-10)
• No. 14 Montverde (10-12)
• Note: LHP owns fourth toughest schedule in FHSAA 3A rankings.
2A District 3
• No. 3 Trinity Catholic (19-4)
• No. 17 Oak Hall (20-2)
2A District 4
• No. 1 Orangewood (23-2)
• No. 4 TFA (16-6)
• Note: Orangewood topped the Royals 3-1 in the regular season.
2A District 6
• No. 19 Foundation (15-8)
1A District 7
• No. 17 International (9-9)
• No. 23 Geneva School (12-11)
• No. 24 Legacy Charter (14-9)
FHSAA’s Open Division playoffs set for 2026-27; 8 top-ranked teams collide
Varsity content editor Buddy Collings can be contacted by email at bcollings@orlandosentinel.com.