Orangewood Christian's volleyball team enters district tournament week riding a 23-2 record and the No. 1 spot in the FHSAA's state rankings, putting the Rams in position to make history as part of the inaugural Open Division field. DeLand, Winter Park and First Baptist Academy are also within reach of the eight-team bracket that will reshape Florida's postseason for the first time this fall.
The Florida High School Athletic Association created the new Open Division for volleyball, football and nine other team bracket sports, pulling the top eight teams in its power rankings out of their usual classifications and into a standalone bracket, according to the Orlando Sentinel. As of Sept. 17, Orangewood was 8-0 and ranked No. 1 in the FHSAA's Class 2A rankings, a status that made the Rams a near-lock for the eight teams the Orlando Sentinel reported would advance to Open playoffs. That same report identified DeLand, then undefeated at 14-0, as the other Central Florida team projected to join Orangewood among the eight elites invited to the Open tournament.
Nothing is final yet. FHSAA ratings won't be updated until after district tournaments wrap up, and those matches run from Oct. 12 through Oct. 16. The Sentinel's reporting notes that other Orlando-area programs sit close enough to the cutoff to matter, including Lake Highland Prep, Winter Park and Oviedo, meaning the picture could still shift before the field is locked in.
Orangewood's Tournament Run Builds the Case
Orangewood made its strongest statement yet at the Sunshine State Invitational, winning the 16-team event with a 5-0 record to push its season mark to 19-2. Per the same tournament report, the Rams had not lost to a Florida team at that point in the season. Sophomore Ellie Enger was named tournament MVP after totaling 36 kills, 32 assists and four blocks across the two-day event.
The Rams' path through that bracket ran directly through DeLand, which they beat 25-23, 17-25, 15-7 in the semifinal — DeLand's first loss of the season. DeLand went on to lose a 20-25, 25-20, 15-10 third-place match to Alabama's McGill-Toolen, while Winter Park went 4-1 to finish fifth. Orangewood and DeLand had also met earlier, with Orangewood winning a neutral-site tournament match 2-1 on Sept. 26, according to a match record posted on MaxPreps.
DeLand Chases a Seventh Straight District Crown
DeLand completed a 22-3 regular season and is favored to win its seventh consecutive district title, with semifinals set for Tuesday and the final Thursday night at Spruce Creek High in Port Orange. DeLand senior defensive specialist Kendall Ezell credited the program's approach for its sustained success, saying the team succeeds by relishing every practice and match. “We really try to enjoy it all,” Ezell said.
Orangewood will host its own 2A District 4 semifinal Tuesday and final Thursday night, with a 3-1 win over The First Academy already on its résumé this season. If both Orangewood and First Baptist wind up competing in the Open Division, The First Academy — currently 16-6 — would become the No. 2 seed in the 32-team 2A bracket.
First Baptist and Winter Park Round Out the Watch List
First Baptist Academy closed its regular season on a 14-match winning streak and was ranked seventh in the state as of Oct. 7, putting the Lions in position for a shot at the Open field in just its first year of eligibility for the new bracket. Winter Park, meanwhile, has won 11 of its past 12 matches and sits at 19-6, ranked No. 2 in Class 6A behind Tampa's Plant High. Senior Jordyn Lehman, the Wildcats' only returning starter, recorded a career-high 28 digs during a four-set win over Merritt Island.
Winter Park's season has carried extra weight given its recent history with DeLand — the Wildcats ended DeLand's 2024 and 2025 seasons with regional wins, even though DeLand beat Winter Park this season 27-25, 25-22, 25-18. McGill-Toolen carries a 31-2 record.
What Happens Next
Once district tournaments conclude Oct. 16, the FHSAA will update its power rankings, and the governing body is scheduled to unveil the Open Division and regional tournament pairings on Oct. 17 via a YouTube broadcast. Pool play in the eight-team Open field is set for Oct. 21, 24 and 28, divided into two pools of four teams apiece, with the top two finishers in each pool advancing to the state tournament at Polk State College in Winter Haven, running Nov. 2-7.
Until the rankings reset, nothing about the Open field is locked in — not Orangewood's spot, not DeLand's, and not First Baptist's or Winter Park's. But with district titles on the line this week across Central Florida, the results on the court could determine which programs get to chase a state championship against the state's best, regardless of classification, for the very first time.
