The calendar flips to October. That means the section playoffs are at the end of the month and conference races in Minnesota girls volleyball are heating up.

Many of the best teams in the state still have work to do to distance themselves at the top of their leagues.

Maple Grove, No. 5 in the Minnesota Top 25, has won 14 in a row. Yet the Crimson needed a five-set victory Tuesday vs. Wayzata to maintain their lead against Minnetonka in the Lake conference.

Rivals Lakeville South and Lakeville North will clash Wednesday night as undefeated teams in South Suburban conference play.

Not much separates Cretin-Derham Hall, East Ridge and Stillwater in the Suburban East, either. And there are definitely others to watch statewide.

Here are the rankings for Week 6:

Minnesota Top 25

1. Marshall (19-1) Previous rank: 1

The Tigers have the heaviest lifting on their schedule in the rearview mirror. Their only blemish this season is a loss to Lakeville South.

2. Lakeville South (17-2). Previous rank: 2

The Cougars had won 12 straight matches leading into their rematch vs. Lakeville North on Wednesday.

3. Delano (19-1) Previous rank: 4

The Tigers have won 14 consecutive matches, including victories vs. top-10 opponents Maple Grove, Benilde-St. Margaret’s and Chanhassen.

4. Chanhassen (15-3) Previous rank: 3

The Storm lost their No. 1 ranking in Class 4A after falling to Delano last week, but they picked up a solid road win Tuesday at Waconia.

5. Maple Grove (17-3) Previous rank: 5

The Crimson, led by Arizona State commit Kacie Schulte, have 14 straight wins. The best were at Champlin Park and Wayzata during a recent three-match road stretch.

6. Lakeville North (17-3) Previous rank: 6

The Panthers can jump back into the top five by completing a regular-season sweep Wednesday of Lakeville South.

7. East Ridge (15-4) Previous rank: 8

The Raptors are still within reach of a Suburban East title with one conference loss and three matches left in the regular season.

8. Eagan (14-4). Previous rank: 7

The Wildcats dropped a road match at Farmington last week, their first loss against an unranked opponent this season.

9. Stewartville (15-2) Previous rank: 11

The Tigers have won five straight matches since losing to Benilde-St. Margaret’s in the Midwest Volleyball Warehouse Showcase.

10. Hawley (17-1) Previous rank: 12

The Nuggets might not lose another match this season after Watertown-Mayer pulled off an upset a couple of weeks ago.

11. Benilde-St. Margaret’s (16-4) Previous rank: 9

The Red Knights have slipped out of the top 10 after losing three of their past five matches, including Tuesday vs. New Prague.

12. Cretin-Derham Hall (12-2) Previous rank: 10

The Raiders fell to Holy Angels last week, but they beat Stillwater on Tuesday to take control in the Suburban East conference.

13. Champlin Park (14-5) Previous rank: 13

The Rebels overtaking Centennial as the top team in their conference isn’t a surprise any longer.

14. Rogers (17-3) Previous rank: 15

The Royals are on an eight-match win streak, but they still have to play Maple Grove and Spring Lake Park to end the regular season.

15. Sauk-Rapids Rice (14-1) Previous rank: 15

The Storm play Rocori for the second time in three matches Thursday with a chance to get even further ahead in the Central Lakes standings.

16. Minneota (16-2) Previous rank: 17

The Vikings have won 13 straight matches, but they haven’t faced much competition, dropping only two sets in that stretch.

17. Mayer Lutheran (15-4) Previous rank: 18

The Crusaders lost to Minneota in a rematch of last year’s Class 1A state championship match, but it gets tougher with Marshall and Chanhassen in back-to-back matches.

18. Apple Valley (12-5) Previous rank: 14

The Eagles reached the championship of their Eagle Invitational, but they’ve dropped three straight matches since.

19. Centennial (14-7) Previous rank: 20

The Cougars regrouped after a 4-4 stretch that included losses to Maple Grove, Chanhassen and Rogers.

20. Prior Lake (12-8) Previous rank: 21

The Lakers have turned things around with defensive specialist Sydney Burley back to good health, winning their past two matches.

21. Stillwater (10-9) Previous rank: 19

Most of the losses for the Ponies were to ranked opponents. They fell for the first time in conference play Tuesday vs. Cretin-Derham Hall.

22. Minnetonka (9-6) Previous rank: 23

The Skippers play Bethlehem Academy on Friday in the Twin Cities Challenge at Eastview.

23. Albany (19-3) Previous: 25

The Huskies are surging with nine straight victories, including against Watertown-Mayer and Chatfield.

24. Russell-Tyler-Ruthton (17-5) Previous rank: 24

The Knights take a seven-match winning streak into Friday’s Jimmy John’s Classic at Marshall.

25. Holy Angels (19-3) Previous rank: unranked

The Stars are the top team in the Tri-Metro conference, and they added to their success with a recent win against Cretin-Derham Hall.