This is “Dots,” VolleyballMag.com’s weekly look at 10 things in high school volleyball, past or present, that interest me and hopefully will interest you. Look for Dots every week until the last high school state championship in November:
• There was a lot of anticipation leading up to this year’s Durango Fall Classic, because of what tournament organizers considered the deepest field of elite teams ever since the DFC began in 1995.
The 64-team event in Las Vegas boasted nine teams ranked among the top 20 nationally and many, many others that were considered among the very best in their respective states.
In short, the tournament delivered a feast for volleyball fans, with high-level talent on every court showcasing the very best that the sport has to offer at the high school level.
• In the final analysis, the top-seeded teams did what they were supposed to do. Each of the teams seeded in the top 20 finished no worse than in the 20th position.
The teams that started out as top 10 seeds all finished in the top 10, with the exception of seventh-seeded Archbishop Mitty and ninth-seeded Torrey Pines, which tied for 15th.
Fourteen of the 16 teams on the 1-seed line for the opening four-team pools won their pools, the lone exceptions being 13th-seeded Marymount, which lost to the 20th seed, Lone Peak; and Kamehameha-Kapalama, the last top seed. The Warriors fell to Alemany, a team seeded one spot below them.
There were a few notable lower-seeded teams that far exceeded expectations. Palo Verde of Las Vegas, led by senior pin Lincoln Common, improved 32 spots to finish in 30th position. South Torrance and Rancho Cucamonga, both on the 4-seed line, improved 30 and 23 spots, respectively. Faith Lutheran of Las Vegas and La Canada, both initial 3-seeds, beat their seeds by 20 and 10 places, respectively. Faith Lutheran finished 22nd after starting as the 42nd seed, just three places behind Marymount, which started as seed No. 13.
• The championship match at Durango pitted two Southern California powers against one another: National No. 1 Mira Costa, the top overall seed; versus Mater Dei, a top five national team and the No. 3 seed overall.
The teams had played once before, on Aug. 29, with Costa winning, 25-21, 25-21, 25-19, at home.
Mater Dei got its revenge on…
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