We’ll begin with where all conversation must begin with- the St. Marks Spartans. They have won the past three state titles and five of the last six and haven’t lost a match since the 1997 state championship.

But can they win a fourth straight crown and go undefeated yet again having graduated seven seniors? The answer will lie on the back of Liz Hubbard this year. Who else will rise to the top of the crop is tough to envision at this point. Head coach Nancy Grisgowitz will have her work cut out for her this year after losing that solid core of Hubbard's teammates. Remaining from last year’s varsity roster are Seniors Katie Buker, Lauren Strong and Lauren McNulty and Juniors Angela Papili and Maggie Radulski.

So if the Spartans are potentially weaker than last year, which team in the Catholic Conference might have the best shot at overtaking them? Another tough call for sure since Padua has a new coach in former Ursuline JV coach Angel Payne. The Pandas didn’t have a single player under 5’7 last year and barely made the tournament losing to Concord in the first round. This should not be the case this year as Payne’s presence gives them instant credibility with her preferred method of athlete motivation. Stephanie Lort, a 6’1" senior will lead the way for Padua.

The Ursuline Raiders have been to the championship game for the past two years and were the last team to defeat St. Marks (in that 1997 final.) The Raiders lose Alexis Henderson and Katie Greevy but the two co-captains from a year ago are the only two lost to graduation. Sue Heiss has employed a two-setter offense the past couple of years, and if she uses it again this year, the names recording the assists will be Erica Razze and Katie McMahon, both seniors. Hitting their way to the state tournament will be Junior Rachel Pawlikowski and seniors Abigail Skibinski and Katie Stroh.

Archmere will also be playing with a new coaching staff. Seniors Theresa Hornberger and Megan Healy will be the go-to hitters for the Auks.

That leaves St. Elizabeth in the ever-tough Catholic Conference. Head coach Mary Pat Kwoka has to deal with the loss of Lauren DiSabatino, but she will have a new building to play in with an all-world defender in Senior Clare Phillips. Seniors Kelley Bradley, Kelly Nepi, and Ashley Hultberg will look to lead the Vikings into the mix of this five-team conference battle.

Now over to the Blue Hen Conference where the more competitive action will be in Flight B. As it has been the past two years, Concord, Hodgson, Dickinson, and Charter will fight for the title and perhaps as many as two at-large berths again this year (Charter was the odd team out last year.)

Hodgson has a nice core of returning players and a legitimate setter in Danielle Austin. She’ll use Sheena Davis, Aisha Word and Danielle Bradshaw as her outside weapons. The Silver Eagles won the recently completed summer league championship tournament over Concord. Both teams were basically set as they might be by the start of the regular school season.

Concord was the number one seed in the playoff rounds of the summer league however with a 7-1 mark. That could help alleviate some concerns over missing Colleen Sherk and Alison Satkowski who carried the Raiders during many matches last year. Katie Alexo, Barbara Trinsey, Jenn Eng, and Chrissy Virion are scheduled to return as the four senior Raider players for head coach Debbie Corrado.

The Dickinson Rams only lost one player from last year, but it was their all-stater, Ann Underwood. From last year’s roster, 11 seniors could be prepared to make some waves in the conference and in the state tournament. Shelly Pownall-Brown, Colleen and Clare Spodaro, Kerry Acteson, Kelly Sammons, and Celeste McCain all have playoff experience for head coach Gerry Szabo.

In Flight A, the Newark Yellowjackets appear to be set up for a conference championship run. They finished the 00 season with a 13-6 record losing to eventual finalist Ursuline 15-13, and 15-10. Gone are four seniors from last year but returning are key players in senior Lauren Nahodil and sophomore Amber Walker. Megan McLaughlin is also an excellent athlete and tool for head coach Lisa Ueltzhoffer.

A.I. duPont and William Penn simply don’t look to be as tough as in recent years. A.I. has a talented senior in the 5’11" Ketti Viohl. The Tiger offense would seem to need to revolve around her play.

William Penn was wiped clean, for the most part, from last year and now deal without two-time all-stater Lindsay Miller, Sam Piectrazak, and Sarah Booth. But this is William Penn and Colonial teams always seem to find a way to win.

The Brandywine Bulldogs graduated six seniors but enter with seven this year. Jaime Clark is the new head coach this year after being promoted from assistant after Sandy Kupchick stepped away. Returning from last year’s team should be Brianna Corrado and Alisa Grindel with playoff experience from a year ago.

From downstate we expect to see Caesar Rodney returning as Henlopen Conference champions. They don’t lose a single player to graduation from last year. Tricia Casarotto, Kelly Brown, Anna Soltys, and Jessie Walker are the main quartet of Riders seeking to earn the Henlopen Volleyball teams some more respect this year.

Caravel Academy will rest most of their hopes on the powerful shoulders of senior Bonnie Mills. The standout soccer goalie for the Bucs has one of the more powerful spikes we’ll see this year. But will it be enough to make a tournament run? It looks as though head coach Laurie Lorah will have some holes to fill to make a successful bid for a tournament berth. 

The Sanford Warriors have a whole new coaching staff lead by Traci Den Hoed from the Delaware Juniors program. Losing Katie Annand and Katie Bowers was tough, but the Warriors return a junior who has one of the two most powerful shots (along with Liz Hubbard from St. Marks) in the state in Lindsay Johnson. She’ll team with 5’11 Natasha Howard to give the Warriors a nice 1-2 punch. But who will load the cannons? Perhaps sophomore Jessica Annand is the answer. Regardless, the Warriors look to be the favorite in the Independent Conference.

With all of this in mind, here is out preseason look at the volleyball top ten.

1- St. Marks
2- Padua
3- Ursuline
4- Newark
5- St. Elizabeth
6- Dickinson
7- Sanford
8- Archmere
9- Brandywine
10- Hodgson

The Delaware Sports Top 25 will make its website debut in September. This was a feature of our newspaper that had a lot of positive feedback, so it will make its return here. This list will combine all of the teams from College and High School along with all of the sports. So on this list could be the U of DE Football team, the Newark High Football team, and the Tower Hill Field Hockey team all at the same time. The teams will be ranked on their strength of schedule, the staff’s combined subjective rankings, and the results of reader polls. Strength of schedule and team records will hold the most weight. Teams from outside the College and High School ranks will also be considered.

If you are someone who has inside knowledge and would like to share some information with us to help us be a bit more in touch, just write. We’ll be back soon.