While you're occupied with high school football (or even if you're not), the local high school volleyball, girls golf, cross country and girls tennis teams have all gotten their teeth into their respective seasons. Not much going on today, so it's a good time to look at what we know so far.

We'll get back to football on Tuesday with new Central Section rankings.

VOLLEYBALL
There have already been several collisions of titans in town, with Centennial beating Liberty and Bakersfield beating Frontier. Throw Stockdale and Garces in with those four and you probably have the best teams in town. The latter two get into the act this week when Stockdale hosts Liberty on Tuesday and Garces visits Frontier on Thursday, the same night Stockdale plays BHS.
The Bakersfield victory against Frontier probably was the match of the season to this point, with the Drillers rallying from a 22-13 deficit to win Game 2, Frontier coming back to take Game 4 and then BHS taking the decisive game 15-9. Frontier's coach was thrown out of that match, right after the Titans let the second game get away; I've heard it was the result of a few questionable line calls from the referees.
The Patriots brought quite a bit back from their D-I runner-up team but lost outside hitter Mariah Alvidrez to a season-ending knee injury over the summer.
As for the outlook Valley-wide, it's going to be tough to top the best teams up north again. Clovis West brings much back from its Division I championship team, and Clovis-Buchanan has already beaten Liberty twice and Bakersfield once.
Among smaller schools, Bakersfield Christian lost much of its roster from its Division IV section championship team but will still be in contention with Tehachapi for the SSL crown. It's also worth keeping an eye on North (7-3), Golden Valley (6-2) and young Independence (8-8) with former BCHS coach Judy Rexroth.

GIRLS TENNIS
It's no surprise to anyone who has followed local girls tennis that Bakersfield Christian is the team to beat again. The Eagles, who beat eventual Division I champ Stockdale in the Lewis Cup last year, then went on to dominate D-V and place two singles players (Lyndsay and Chelby Cooke) in the section semifinals. Just about everybody returns for BCHS, which won the consolation championship in the top division at the California High School Tennis Classic in Clovis last weekend. BCHS and Visalia-Redwood, which boasts two-time defending section singles champ Gabrielle Gatewood, were the only Central Section teams in the top division.
As for the bigger schools, Stockdale might still stand a chance to win its seventh straight Division I crown, even though the Mustangs lost a lot off of last year's team. That's because the rest of the section's Division I isn't overwhelming, either. At the least, Stockdale is a clear SWYL favorite, followed again by Centennial and Frontier in some order. In the SEYL, give Garces the bigtime nod, though the Rams will eventually run into Redwood in the D-II playoffs. East and Liberty might be the next-best teams, with Bakersfield having a down year.

BOYS AND GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY
Lots of new blood out on the 5K courses this year, most notably with the graduation of Foothill's Chris Schwartz, who won just about every local race of note in the past two years. At the East Invite out at Lake Ming, the first chance to see many local teams in the same place, the champion's void was filled by Stockdale's Blair Slaton, who won the three-mile course in an impressive 15:51. Not often you see a guy set his personal record in the first race of the season. Stockdale and Ridgeview, with a test from Highland, will battle it out among big-school boys this season. Of course, McFarland will probably have the best team of all again. The Cougars return three of their top five from their second-in-Division IV state from a year ago.
On the girls side, Tijerra Lynch of Ridgeview is the returning big dog. She was the Californian runner of the year last year and leads a Wolf Pack team that returns considerable talent from its Division III section championship team. But Lynch will be pushed. Ridgeview wasn't at the EB invite, and the winner, Bakersfield's Sarah Baker, will be with Lynch all year long. So likely will Garces' Monica Guzman, Stockdale's Carolin Haney and Amber Nelson and Liberty's Ashley Barton. You could also see some noise from Foothill's Natalie Fernandez or East's Lucy Garcia.
As for the girls teams, Stockdale narrowly beat BHS at the EB invite, though I don't know either team is quite ready to challenge Ridgeview.

GIRLS GOLF
Unfortunately, I don't yet have a lot to report here. I'm headed out to my first mini-tournament on Wednesday (SEYL), and I'll do the SWYL in the next week or two. At this point, I think the team to watch may be Frontier, which returns its top four players from the Division II section champions who qualified for the Southern Cal regional last fall. Many of the top players in town, including Garces' Mica Guzman and Cassie Clayton, Liberty's Deidre Crabtree and Stockdale's Tammy Park, graduated. So new blood here too.