To nobody’s surprise, Orangewood Christian’s girls volleyball team is the No. 1 seed for the Florida High School Athletic Association’s new Open Division state tournament.
The Rams (25-2) were ranked No. 4 nationally by MaxPreps from the start to the finish in the regular season, and cruised through two district tournament matches last week. That puts them on top of the Open Division, which shines the spotlight on the eight highest-ranked teams in the state in a format that begins with three rounds of pool play — starting Wednesday.
Orangewood will host No. 5 Gulliver Prep (22-5) of Miami to open its bid for its first state championship since it won 2005 and 2006 titles under coach Diane Langmo, who is still at the helm in her 37th year as the Rams head coach.
Winter Park (21-6), which returned just one starter after winning the past the two large-class state titles, joins the Rams in the Open Division as the No. 4 seed. The Wildcats are joined by Gulliver and sixth seed Beachside (24-3) of St. Johns in four-team Pool A.
The four other top eight teams are in Pool B, where second-ranked Calvary Christian (27-1) of Clearwater is the top seed.
The winner and runners-up of the two pools advance to the state tournament for semifinals and the final, Nov. 6-7, at Polk State College in Winter Haven.
The FHSAA promised drama when it launched the Open Division concept for volleyball, football and nine other team bracket sports. And controversy unfolded in Sunday’s YouTube channel bracket reveal show.
A surprise was seeing DeLand (24-3) fall short of the top eight in the all-classification rankings. That knocked the Bulldogs out of the prestigious Open Division picture. They will instead stay in the 32-team Class 6A bracket, which has the state’s largest schools by enrollment.
DeLand was No. 6 in the Oct. 9 FHSAA rankings and cruised through its two district matches last week. But it was bypassed by Beachside, First Baptist (17-6) of Naples and Santa Fe (23-3) of Alachua, and dropped out of the top eight in the updated rankings used to seed all playoff classifications.
“My girls were really looking forward to the opportunity to play in the new Open bracket, so there was some disappointment,” DeLand coach Rhea Simon said after watching the reveal show.
Orangewood, DeLand, Winter Park could go Open in historic FHSAA volleyball playoffs
“I felt like our girls did a great job and definitely proved that we could be up there with and handle ourselves. We can only control what we control. The next thing is focusing on a 6A state championship. The goal is to bring that home with us. We are motivated for sure to go after that state title.”
DeLand has wins against two teams that made the Open cut — Winter Park and Santa Fe. The Bulldogs homecourt 27-25, 25-22, 25-18 sweep against reigning state champion Winter Park came in the first week of the season and its 29-27, 25-23 win against Class 3A Santa Fe was in a Sept. 12 neutral-court tournament match.
The Bulldogs’ losses were to Orangewood (twice) and the No. 1 team in Alabama, McGill-Tooten (39-2).
“DeLand beat us in straight sets. We’ve improved exponentially since then, but that was kind of a shock for me,” Winter Park coach Stephanie Gibson said of DeLand’s omission. “We have six losses, but we know strength of a schedule is a huge factor in the rankings. To me, it looks like the strength of opponents in your district tournaments means a lot.”
The FHSAA rankings are computed by MaxPreps, which does not reveal details of its proprietary formula. The company has said every game played by every team, and results of all of those teams opponents, all the way down the line, are included. That means a team’s number can change even while it’s not playing matches.
Orangewood will travel Saturday to play Sante Fe in round two of pool play. The Rams then host Winter Park on Oct. 28.
Winter Park, which returned just one starter from its 2024 and 2025 state title teams, opens with a Wednesday home game against Beachside and stays home for its second pool play match against Gulliver Prep of Miami on Saturday.
“From a travel point of view, we got a good draw,” Gibson said. “Playing two at home and then going about 10 minutes down the road to play Orangewood.”
Open Division uncertainty clouds Orangewood volleyball playoff picture | Varsity Report
In the traditional classes, four Orlando area teams are top seeds and are positioned to play all three region rounds at home.
DeLand, No. 1 in 6A Region 1, will host No. 8 Navarre (12-2) in a Wednesday quarterfinal.
Horizon (22-3), which scored a regular season win against Winter Park, is No. 1 in 6A-3.
Two Kissimmee teams, Osceola (21-6) and Gateway (20-3) are the 1-2 seeds in 5A Region 2. The Kowboys edged Gateway 25-22, 17-25, 20-25, 25-19, 15-8 to win the District 3 title.
Bishop Moore (20-7) is No. 1 for 4A-2.
Oviedo (24-3) is the second seed in 6A-2 behind DeLand and drew backyard rival Hagerty (11-14) for the first round. Two other Seminole County teams, Lake Brantley (15-11) and Seminole-Sanford (16-9) also have home matches.
Freedom (21-6), which celebrated its first girls volleyball district title, must travel to play a higher-ranked district winner, Winter Haven (23-4).
Montverde Academy (13-12) secured a Tuesday home game by winning the 3A District 6 final against Lake Highland Prep (14-11), which has to go on the road.
The First Academy, Foundation Academy and International Community also play at home Tuesday.
Here are the pairings for region quarterfinals and Open Division first-round matches involving Orlando area teams:
No. 1 Orangewood takes 19-0 Florida record into Open Division | Volleyball Report
Open Division
Wednesday
• No. 5 Gulliver Prep (22-5) at No. 1 Orangewood (25-2)
• No. 6 Beachside (24-3) at No. 4 Winter Park (21-6)
• No. 7 First Baptist (17-6) at No. 3 Plant (15-4)
• No. 8 Santa Fe-Alachua (23-3) at No. 2 Calvary-Clearwater (27-1)
6A Region 1
Wednesday
• No. 8 Navarre (12-12) at No. 1 DeLand (24-3)
• No. 5 Buchholz (13-9) at No. 4 Seminole-Sanford (16-9)
• No. 6 Forest (15-13) at No. 3 Lake Brantley (15-11)
• No. 7 Hagerty (11-14) at No. 2 Oviedo (24-3)
6A Region 2
Wednesday
• No. 8 Lake Nona (13-8) at No. 1 Horizon (22-3)
• No. 7 Freedom (21-6) at No. 2 Winter Haven (23-4)
• No. 6 Boone (17-10) at No. 3 West Orange (16-5)
• No. 5 George Jenkins (12-13) at No. 4 Olympia (15-12)
5A Region 2
Wednesday
• No. 8 Melbourne (15-7) at No. 1 Osceola (21-6)
• No. 5 Lake Howell (18-10) at No. 4 Viera (18-9)
• No. 7 Winter Springs (13-14) at No. 2 Gateway (20-3)
• No. 6 Lake Minneola (17-10) at No. 3 Bartow (20-7)
4A Region 2
Wednesday
• No. 8 Lake Wales (7-12) at No. 1 Bishop Moore (20-7)
• No. 3 New Smyrna Beach (16-11) at No. 4 Mount Dora (13-9)
• No. 6 Weeki Wachee (13-13) at No. 3 River Ridge (21-7)
• No. 7 Lecanto (16-9) at No. 2 Satellite (20-6)
3A Region 2
Tuesday
• No. 8 Space Coast (14-11) at No. 1 Merritt Island (22-6)
• No. 7 Astronaut (14-10) at No. 2 Academy Holy Names (19-8)
• No. 4 Lake Highland (14-11) at No. 5 Villages (20-8)
• No. 6 McKeel (17-10) at No. 3 Montverde (13-12)
2A Region 1
Tuesday
• No. 8 Trinity Prep (14-5) at No. 1 Trinity Catholic-Ocala (21-5)
• No. 4 Oak Hall (22-3) at No. 5 Destin (13-6)
• No. 6 Episcopal (16-12) at No. 3 Trinity Christian-Jacksonville (22-6)
• No. 7 Maclay (15-10) at No. 2 The First Academy (18-7)
2A Region 2
Tuesday
• No. 8 Holy Trinity (11-14) at No. 1 Northside Christian (23-5)
• No. 5 Clearwater Central Catholic (15-12) at No. 4 Carrollwood (19-6)
• No. 2 Tampa Prep (19-7) at No. 7 Foundation Academy (17-8)
• No. 6 Shorecrest (21-4) at No. No. 2 Tampa Prep (19-7)
1A Region 2
Tuesday
• No. 8 Lake Mary Prep (17-10) at No. 1 St. Edwards (19-4)
• No. 4 Geneva School (14-12) at No. 5 Meadowbrook (16-1)
• No. 6 Merritt Island Christian (14-9) at No. 3 International Community (11-9)
• No. 7 Orlando Christian Prep (13-9) at No. 2 Brevard HEAT (21-5)
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.