HIGH SCHOOL VOLLEYBALL PREVIEW

Five storylines to watch

Storybook ending? Pearland coach John Turner plans to step down after this season, concluding a 32-year coaching career, with 24 years leading the Oilers, who’ve won 10 district titles under Turner. He’ll likely pass 800 career wins this season — he’s at 781-288 — but he would like to go out with Pearland’s first state championship.

Maintaining momentum: Coach Terri Wade left The Woodlands for Magnolia after leading the Highlanders to back-to-back state titles, and after a slow start, the Bulldogs took off in the playoffs, reaching the regional semifinals. Now Wade has had a full offseason at Magnolia, which returns almost every key player.

Trading places: Coaches Tammy White and Kelly Smalley traded places in the offseason, with Smalley taking White’s job at Kingwood Park and White replacing Smalley at Huffman Hargrave. Now their fates are intertwined, with each looking to finish what the other started. Oh, and they meet in their season opener.

Moving up: After reaching the Class 5A semifinals last year, George Ranch looks to keep rolling in a move up to 6A, with outside hitters Valerie Valerian and Audrey Tuttle, and right side Kennedy Prince all returning. But it will be tough to repeat as a regional or even district champ after joining Pearland in 23-6A.

Still loaded: Cypress Falls joins Oak Ridge, Clear Creek, Pearland, Dawson and The Woodlands as preseason state-ranked 6As, checking in 10th, but no team has a deeper district to navigate before the playoffs, with Cy-Fair, Langham Creek, Cy Ranch and Cy Woods presenting clear and present danger to their district title defense.