Bridgewater-Emery jumps to No. 1 in South Dakota Prep Media volleyball poll for week of Sept. 20

A big shakeup at the top of Class B has moved Bridgewater-Emery to the No. 1 ranking in this week’s South Dakota Prep Media volleyball poll.

The Huskies, who were 5-0 last week and won their own tournament on Saturday, now stand at 12-0 on the season. They defeated previous No. 5 Chester Area, Freeman, Hanson and Freeman again at their own tournament to claim the title.

B-E is the fourth different team to hold the No. 1 ranking in the first five weeks of the poll during the 2021 season. Defending state champion Northwestern was the preseason No. 1, followed by Warner for a week and Wolsey-Wessington for a pair of weeks before Aberdeen Christian defeated the Warbirds last week in five sets.

In the poll this week, Warner stands at No. 2 — the Monarchs were at the B-E Tournament on Saturday but did not play the Huskies — with Wolsey-Wessington at No. 3, Aberdeen Christian at No. 4 and Northwestern at No. 5.

Warner, Aberdeen Christian and Northwestern have a combined record of 36-6 so far this season and all three of them are in Region 1B, meaning one will be left out of the SoDak 16 state-qualifying round once the postseason arrives in November.

Platte-Geddes (13-1), which won the highly regarded Cavalier Clash tournament on Saturday in Tyndall, received 14 votes but was four vote-points short of No. 5 Northwestern this week.

Sioux Falls O’Gorman and Sioux Falls Christian — which have been the top-ranked teams in Class AA and Class A, respectively this season — remained at No. 1 this week.

Here is the South Dakota Prep Media volleyball poll for the week of Sept. 20, 2021. Teams are listed with first-place votes in parenthesis, record, points and previous ranking.

1. O'Gorman (14), 6-0, 70

2. SF Washington, 7-0, 56

3. Pierre, 8-1, 35

4. SF Lincoln, 9-2, 30

5. Harrisburg, 8-3, 15.

Stability: O'Gorman and Washington both were perfect last week, while Pierre took Sioux Falls Lincoln's spot after a three-set sweep of the Patriots. Harrisburg retains the No. 5 slot for another week.

Others receiving votes: Brandon Valley (6-4) 2; S.F. Roosevelt (8-4) 2.

1. SF Christian (14), 10-0, 70

2. Dakota Valley, 8-2, 51

3. RC Christian, 11-0, 42

4. Garretson, 10-1, 21

5. Hill City, 10-0, 14

On the move: Sioux Falls Christian and Dakota Valley remain at No. 1 and No. 2, followed by Rapid City Christian. Hill City finally cracks the top-5 after knocking on the door and picking up wins over Hot Springs and Sturgis.

Moving out: No. 4 Winner moves out of the poll after a loss to Miller at the Big Dakota Conference tournament. The Warriors are the first team out in the rankings.

Others receiving votes: Winner (9-2) 11; Florence-Henry (11-2) 1.

1. Bridgewater-Emery (10), 12-0, 59

2. Warner (2), 13-2, 40

3. Wolsey-Wessington (2), 8-1, 39

4. Aberdeen Christian, 10-1, 24

5. Northwestern, 13-3, 18.

Big shakeup: Bridgewater-Emery moves up to No. 1 after a 5-0 week and a 4-0 weekend at its own tournament, up from No. 4 last week. Previous No. 1 Wolsey-Wessington moves down to No. 3 after a loss to Aberdeen Christian, with the Knights now moving in at No. 4. No. 2 Warner stays at its spot, despite a loss to previous No. 5 Chester Area at the B-E Tournament. The Flyers move out after a loss to B-E, and Northwestern occupies that final spot in the rankings.

Others receiving votes: Chester Area (14-3) 16; Platte-Geddes (13-1) 14