Orangewood Christian is No. 1 in the FHSAA Class 2A power rankings and also sits atop the strength of schedule rankings for its classification. That was not by coincidence.
Diane Langmo, in her 36th year as Orangewood’s head coach, reached out to add matches against big-school powers Hagerty and Lake Brantley to bolster a lineup that already included reigning 7A state champ Winter Park. She also arranged for the Rams to fly to Arizona to play for the first time in the prestigious Nike Tournament of Champions Southwest tournament.
Langmo said she wanted to elevate the level of competition for talented team — especially when freshman phenom Ellie Enger enrolled in her school. The Rams also gained sophomore Olivia Sosa, who previously played for Viera.
“Once I knew we were adding Ellie and Olivia, who came last spring, I knew I needed to make our schedule very competitive. I needed to push our girls all year,” Langmo said.
It has paid off. The Rams are 24-4 and a prime state title contender going into a region semifinal home match against The First Academy (17-6) of Orlando on Saturday afternoon at 2.
“We’re doing amazing. I’m very proud of us,” Enger said. “We’ve worked really hard every single week in practice. It’s so much fun to play with all of these girls.”
The Rams won 3-1 against 7A No. 3 Lake Brantley, which is ranked No. 3 in 7A, and Hagerty, which is No. 5 in the large class. They also beat 3A No. 2 Lake Highland Prep, 6A No. 3 Oviedo, 2A No. 4 Ocala Trinity Catholic, 5A No. 5 Lourdes Academy and Briarcrest of Tennessee, which is 29-8 and ranked No. 3 in its state.
In Nike Southeast tournament matches in Gainesville the Rams lost 2-1 against 7A No. 4 Tampa Plant and an IMG team that is 17-1. In the Arizona trip Orangewood went 6-1 — losing only a competitive bout 25-20, 25-22 against a Mater Dei team from California that is ranked third nationally.
In the home match against defending 7A state champ Winter Park the Rams had a match point before losing 23-25, 25-17, 25-22, 19-25, 15-9.
“I wanted to see how we fit in with the really good teams,” Langmo said. “The girls have loved it.”
Orangewood volleyball coach must answer to daughters while winning
Winter Park (27-1) moved up to No. 17 in the MaxPreps national rankings this week and is on a 20-match win streak going into its home date with DeLand.
Lake Highland Prep, the reigning 3A state champ, had to move its semifinal away from its home court because its upper school homecoming dance is Saturday. The Highlanders will play Villages Chart at The First Academy.
Bishop Moore, last year’s 4A state champion, has to travel as a No. 3 seed to a familiar foe, Alachua Santa Fe. The Raiders knocked the Hornets out on its way to winning a state title in 2022.
Saturday winners advance to region finals, which are Tuesday for 1A-3A and Rural teams and Wednesday for 4A-7A teams. Higher seeds will host.
Admission for regional matches is $9.
The final four state tournaments are Nov. 3-8 at Polk State College in Winter Haven.
Here are semifinal matchups. Teams are listed with their seed position.
Match times, as listed by MaxPreps, are 2 p.m. unless noted otherwise.
7A Region 1
No. 4 DeLand (19-9) at No. 1 Winter Park (27-1)
No. 3 Hagerty (18-5) at No. 2 Lake Brantley (20-8)
Winter Park, Orangewood, Osceola lead girls volleyball region favorites
7A Region 2
No. 4 Vero Beach (20-5) at No. 1 Osceola (24-4)
No. 3 Olympia (21-3) at No. 2 Jupiter (22-4)
6A Region 1
No. 5 Horizon (23-5) at No. 1 Gulf Breeze (25-3)
No. 3 Buchholz (20-5) at No. 2 Oviedo (20-6)
5A Region 2
No. 4 Legacy-Port St. Lucie (22-7) at No. 1 Innovation (20-5)
No. 5 Gateway (19-5) at No. 2 Gainesville (18-8)
4A Region 2
No. 4 Satellite (16-9) at No. 1 Merritt Island (26-2)
No. 3 Bishop Moore (15-13) at No. 2 Santa Fe (19-9)
3A Region 2
No. 5 Villages (15-13) at No. 1 Lake Highland (21-6) 2 p.m.#
No. 3 McKeel (17-8) at No. 2 Montverde (18-5)
2A Region 1
No. 4 The First Academy (18-6) at No. 1 Orangewood (24-4)
No. 4 Providence (16-5) at No. 2 Trinity Catholic (15-10), 4 p.m.
1A Region 2
No. 4 St. Edward’s (17-11) at No. 1 Geneva School (22-5) 1 p.m.
No. 3 International Community (19-8) at No. 2 Brevard HEAT (21-5)
(# game to be played at The First Academy at 2 p.m.)
Winter Park edges Orangewood in clash of FHSAA girls volleyball state title contenders
Varsity content editor Buddy Collings can be contacted by email at bcollings@orlandosentinel.com.
