Just once in the past five seasons has the Fairfax County program finished lower than No. 1 in the Post’s year-end rankings. (That hiccup? A No. 2 mark in 2018.)

That reputation makes Flint Hill a clear No. 1 to start this year’s rankings, even with the departure of Arrington (now the athletic director at Jackson-Reed), first-team All-Met selection Sydney Bryant (attending the University of Maryland) and star opposite Renee Jones (at IMG Academy). In their places, the Huskies return one of the most talented cores on the East Coast, including middle blocker Ryla Jones, libero Evie Huang and outside hitter/defensive specialist Mikki Murray.

“It’s an awesome program,” new coach Thai Nguyen said. “We want to keep everything the same.”

Still, several local coaches are left with the impression that the gap between the Huskies and the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference’s top teams, Bishop O’Connell and Holy Cross, could be more narrow than in recent years.

In the WCAC, Bishop O’Connell’s road to a three-peat will again have to go through 2022 All-Met Player of the Year Emerson Sellman and Holy Cross, who have stolen at least one head-to-head match in each of the past two seasons. Georgetown Day and Bullis also have emerged as early challengers in the Independent School League.

Filling in around the three private school powers, Northern Virginia heavyweights Langley, Chantilly and defending state champion Alexandria City are among the favorites to compete for the Class 6 title. In Maryland, Arundel and Wootton expect to contend for a trophy as well — only this year, they’ll compete at different levels, with Arundel moving to 3A as Wootton remains in 4A.

(All records from last season.)