Mater Dei sweeps, wins CIF-SS Division 1 crown
NORWALK ❯❯ Winning the Division 1 championship in CIF Southern Section girls volleyball is impressive enough.
To win the Division 1 title without losing a set in the playoffs is even more so.
Mater Dei completed that perfect run Saturday by sweeping Mira Costa in three sets, 28-26, 25-15, 2520, in the Division 1 final at Cerritos College.
It is Mater Dei's sixth CIF-SS girls volleyball championship and its first since 2018.
Mater Dei went 3-0 in Open Division pool play with sweeps of Palos Verdes, Marymount and Sierra Canyon before playing Mira Costa in Saturday's final.
Mater Dei is No. 1 and Mira Costa is No. 2 in the MaxPreps national rankings.
Saturday's match was the third time Mater Dei and Mira Costa played each other this season. They split their two previous matches.
Senior outside hitter Isabel Clark led the Monarchs in kills, as she usually does, with 18, and most of them were bullets. Sophomore outside hitter Layli Ostovar had seven kills and senior opposite hitter Cymarah Gordon had six kills.
Clark also was the Mater Dei digs leader with 12 and Ostovar had 11 digs. Freshman middle blocker Emma Kingston had seven blocks and sophomore middle Addison Coady had four blocks.
Mater Dei coach Dan O'Dell said sweeping Mira Costa on Saturday and sweeping through the Division 1 playoffs was within the Monarchs' capabilities.
“It shows that this team always has had a ton of talent,” O'Dell said. “I had this year circled for two years now. Since they were sophomores, I knew this was a pretty special group and I knew this year could be special. But `could be special' and actually performing like that are two totally different things.
“Since the playoffs began, they came in with a new focus. This is what they wanted to accomplish.”
Clark agreed that the Monarchs got more serious when the playoffs started.
“Our practices have shown that we're really competitive lately,” said Clark, who is committed to the University of San Diego. “Nothing can really stop us lately no matter what's going on … We had a lot of energy going into the game.”
Mater Dei and Mira Costa, both with 38-3 records, continue their seasons next week in the CIF Southern California Regional playoffs. Both teams are sure to be placed in the CIF Open Division.
The regional brackets will be announced Sunday. Open Division play begins Wednesday.
Mater Dei never trailed in the first set. The Monarchs seemed ready to put the first set away when they had a 24-22 lead. Mira Costa rallied to tie it 24-24 and again at 25-25 and 2626 before the Monarchs got points on blocks by Gordon and Kingston to win 28-26.
The Monarchs quickly took control in the second set to go on to a 25-14 win.
Mira Costa was the better team in the early portion of the third set until Mater Dei caught the Mustangs 12-12 and proceeded to pull away from there for the 25-20 match-clinching win.