It was a throwback-to-the-past championship clash Saturday as the Durango Fall Classic neared its ending in Las Vegas and the drama was thick. Top-seeded and vballrecruiter.com’s top team in the country in Mira Costa CA lineup up across third-seeded and No. 6 Mater Dei CA.

Not only had both schools captured national tournament titles already this season – with Mira Costa wining the Ann Kang Invitational in Hawaii and Mater Dei capturing the Volleypalooza crown in Texas – they had already met once before with Mira Costa sweeping the showdown between the top two teams in the country at the time.

In the background of their latest meeting was the Durango success both schools once enjoyed in their storied histories. Mira Costa, which didn’t attend the event last year, owned the Durango mantle three times in a four-year span. The Mustangs last finished on top in 2007 to go with titles in 2006 and 2004.

Mater Dei’s Durango drought was even longer, as the Monarchs went more than 20 years without finishing in the position they did Saturday. Mater Dei last raised the Durango trophy in 2001, to go with victories in 1997 and 1995. Both the sport and the Durango Fall Classic have changed plenty in that time, including the once 16-team field expanding to 48 and once again to its current number of 64.

Getting back on top of the most prestigious high school tournament is satisfying in itself. Then add on to it the way Mater Dei clawed through the competition before finishing with a redemption victory over Mira Costa, 18-25, 25-20, 25-21, as the Mustangs were only one of two teams to defeat Mater Dei so far this season.

The other – Cathedral Catholic CA – tied for third with Sierra Canyon CA. Cathedral Catholic and Mater Dei have split a pair of matches to date, with Mater Dei defeating Cathedral Catholic in the semifinals at Volleypalooza and Cathedral returning the favor by downing Mater Dei in the final of the Dave Mohs tournament earlier this month.

Given Mater Dei has captured two major tournament titles and carries victories over both teams which have also beat Mater Dei, the Monarchs are the favorite to take over the top spot in the country in our updated Top 50 National HS Rankings released this week.

On top of that, Mira Costa’s only previous loss came to Punahou HI in the Mustangs’ first match of the season. Mira Costa responded by going on to win the Ann Kang tournament, which was significant given the Mustangs were playing without 5-star Wisconsin commit Charlie Fuerbringer. That means Mater Dei is the first school to beat Mira Costa with Fuerbringer playing.

The latest meeting started off much like the first time Mater Dei and Mira Costa faced off. Mater Dei was coming off its Volleypalooza championship and two days later visited the Mustangs, which were ranked No. 1 at the time ahead of then-undefeated Mater Dei, which was sitting at No. 2.

The highly-anticipated showdown didn’t materialize into anything special, except for the fact how much Mira Costa dominated the meeting in sweeping, 25-21, 25-21, 25-19. That match featured Mira Costa going on big runs in each set to secure the victory, including overcoming a 17-9 deficit in the final frame. And that’s exactly how the opening set played out Saturday in the championship match. Mater Dei pushed ahead to a 12-8 advantage only to watch Mira Costa catch fire and close the set on a 17-7 run.

Yet, Mater Dei, like they had most of the day Saturday, recovered and found its way to victory. Other than sweeping Xavier Prep AZ – and handing the Gators their first loss of the season – in the qualifying round, Mater Dei had to overcome a first-set loss in its next three outings.

It included coming back on national No. 5 Assumption KY, 22-25, 25-23, 25-20, in the quarterfinals and national No. 23 Sierra Canyon, 20-25, 25-22, 25-11, in the semifinals.

Mira Costa, meanwhile, had its own struggles early Saturday and needed three sets before getting past unranked Bishop Alemany CA, 25-6, 27-29, 25-17, in qualifying play to kick of Day 2 action. Mira Costa settled, having no issues in sweeping Huntington Beach CA, 25-17, 25-20, in the quarters and Cathedral Catholic, 25-17, 25-19, in the semis to reach the final. There was recent history between Mira Costa and Cathedral Catholic, which was last year’s undefeated national champion and lost its only set all season to Mira Costa in the semifinals of the state playoffs.

As for Mater Dei and Mira Costa splitting two meetings so far, it’s likely not all has been written between them this season. The two programs could potentially meet twice more, with plenty more at stake. The first could come in the CIF Southern Section Open Division playoffs, as both should be the top-two seeds. After that, another meeting could be on the horizon in the CIF Open Division state playoffs.

There’s also a high probability that either Mater Dei or Mira Costa, or both, could run into Cathedral Catholic once more in the state playoffs. Cathedral Catholic – despite losing eight contributing seniors including Stanford’s Julia Blyashov and Oregon’s Noemie Glover – is proving itself as one of the top teams in the country in 2023. The Dons have three losses – to Grand Oaks TX, Mater Dei and Mira Costa.

On Saturday, they scored a huge victory over Prestonwood Christian TX in the quarterfinals, sweeping, 26-24, 25-18. Prestonwood is the only school to beat Grand Oaks so far, the team Cathedral lost to in the third-place match at Volleypalooza.

Cathedral Catholic and Prestonwood are set to meet once more, however, as part of the ESPN Volleyball Showcase next month. The event is set for Oct. 6 at Prestonwood. Cornerstone Christian TX and St. James Academy KS are playing the match before, with Prestonwood and Cathedral following and to be aired live on ESPNEWS.

Cornerstone was in the thick of it Saturday as well but ran up against a streaking Sierra Canyon squad that produced a sweep over the Warriors, 25-20, 25-23, in the quarterfinals. It was the second time the two squared off, with Cornerstone beating Sierra Canyon in pool play at the Ann Kang Invitational in August. Cornerstone lost in the final to Mira Costa, which remained their only loss before being taken down by Sierra Canyon in the rematch. In between, Cornerstone finished first at the Nike TOC Southeast tournament in early September.

The schools could be headed toward a trilogy, as both Sierra Canyon and Corrnerstone are competing in the Nike TOC Southwest tournament this coming weekend in the Phoenix area. Sierra Canyon’s Day 2 begun with a sweep over Archbishop Mitty CA, 25-21, 29-27. The Monarchs were 17-0 coming into that contest.

The drama extended past the championship division bracket. The fifth-place match carried plenty of repercussions as Prestonwood and Cornerstone went at it for the bragging rights of the top private school in Texas.

It was last year when Cornerstone handed Prestonwood its only loss of the season in the final of Volleypalooza. Cornerstone was not part of the Volleypalooza field this season and it took the two schools traveling to Las Vegas to run into each other. Prestonwood pulled out the victory in three, 25-17, 22-25, 25-22.

In other results, Branson CA swept Lone Peak UT, 25-19, 25-20, in the silver division championship. That was made up of the eight teams which lost in the morning qualifying round at Durango.

Lastly in wrapping up, the Durango results showed how strong a field the Ann Kang tournament was in Honolulu in August. Four of the top-eight finishers in Mira Costa (2nd), Sierra Canyon (t3), Cornerstone (6th) and Huntington Beach (t7) all attended Ann Kang. Of course, Mira Costa defeated Cornerstone in the final, with Sierra Canyon tying for third and Huntington Beach taking sixth.

Huntington Beach upset Torrey Pines CA in qualifying play at Durango. It also speaks to the season Punahou is having, which defeated Huntington Beach for fifth at Ann Kang. Punahou’s only loss so far came to Los Alamitos CA during pool play at Ann Kang. Huntington Beach swept Los Al last week in league play.

As for Durango, this year’s field featured four teams which captured national high school tournament titles previously. We mentioned Mater Dei winning Volleypalooza, Mira Costa winning Ann Kang and Cornerstone coming in first at the Nike TOC Southeast. There was also Assumption capturing the Louisville Invitational Volleyball Tournament two weeks ago. All four finished in the top eight at Durango, showcasing just how incredibly strong the competition truly was this weekend in Vegas.