For all the memorable matchups involving the girls volleyball programs at Cathedral Catholic and Mater Dei, including four showdowns in the past 13 months, the latest chapter Saturday in the championship bracket of the Dave Mohs Memorial Tournament might have been the most spectacular showcase yet.
The past two Open Division state champions, who have both concluded recent seasons being recognized as the top-ranked team in the country, concluded a challenging two-day schedule with a back-and-forth battle at Edison High in Huntington Beach that featured all the drama and momentum swings of an epic postseason clash.
Despite surviving several match points in the second set and another in the third, Mater Dei was unable to prevent Cathedral Catholic from capturing a third consecutive Dave Mohs title, as the Dons produced a 25-14, 28-30, 16-14 victory.
Cathedral Catholic wins Dave Mohs Memorial girls volleyball tournament for third straight year. Photo by Alex Valladares
It marked the second straight season that Cathedral Catholic prevailed in three sets against the Monarchs in the Dave Mohs Memorial Tournament final, including a 25-18, 18-25, 15-10 triumph last year.
Mater Dei rebounded to knock off the Dons by a 25-22, 25-20, 19-25, 25-16 margin in the Open Division regional final in November, before defeating Archbishop Mitty to capture the state title.
“It’s amazing because we’ve won the past two years and we did not think we were going to win this year,” said Yale commit Mae Kordas, who earned tournament MVP honors for Cathedral Catholic.
“We lost to Mater Dei in the state semifinals last year, so it was great to avenge (that setback). This win gives us a lot of confidence for the rest of the year. We’ve got some important (matches) coming up and I think this will help us get the confidence to win those (matchups).”
Cathedral Catholic (19-1) was making its fourth consecutive appearance in the tournament final, rebounding from a loss to Lakewood in the 2021 championship to defeat Marymount two years ago en route to a 42-0 season that culminated with the program’s sixth state crown and the first in the Open Division.
Mater Dei (12-3) was seeking its first Dave Mohs title since 2018, looking to build off the momentum of a sweep Thursday against Mira Costa (9-3), which entered the week as the top-ranked team in the state.
The Monarchs were impressive in pool-play victories against Chaparral, Yucaipa and San Clemente, and opened the championship bracket with another sweep of Sunny Hills, before being significantly tested against Stockton St. Mary’s and sophomore outside hitter McKenna McIntosh before earning a 19-25, 25-19, 15-13 quarterfinal victory.
Mater Dei also halted the unbeaten run of Huntington Beach (17-1) with a 29-27, 25-19 semifinal triumph.
The Oilers, who were led by senior Taylor Ponchak, outlasted Marina 23-25, 25-23, 15-6 in the opening round of the championship bracket and then held off Palos Verdes 23-25, 25-20, 15-4 in the quarterfinals.
Huntington Beach’s Taylor Ponchak. Photo by Alex Valladares
Cathedral Catholic, which was led by all-tournament honorees Sophia Johnson, Lauren Hanson and Kordas, had swept Marina, Laguna Beach and Yorba Linda in Friday’s pool-play competition, and reached the final Saturday following straight-set victories against Temecula Valley, Newport Harbor and Murrieta Valley.
The Dons held a 23-22 advantage in the second against Mater Dei, looking to duplicate their dominance from 2022 by sweeping all seven tournament matches to secure the crown.
But the Monarchs relied on senior Preslie Saunders and sophomore Emma Kingston, both all-tournament selections, to fight off multiple match points and eventually gain momentum to force a deciding third set.
“That set was crazy. It was tough that we didn’t come out on top,” Kordas said. “I thought we were going to have it at the end and we didn’t get it, but it was a great set with both teams going back and forth.”
Although Mater Dei rallied from a 13-9 deficit in the third and withstood another match point to tie the score at 14-14, Madyson McCarthy delivered an ace to help the Dons punctuate the hard-fought victory, helping Cathedral Catholic rebound following a 25-21, 25-18 setback Aug. 31 to Cornerstone Christian of Texas in the final of the Kamehameha Schools Labor Day Classic in Hilo, Hawaii.
“We just told ourselves that we have to be aggressive,” Kordas said. “In the second set, toward the end, we weren’t serving tough and we were tipping and we just said that we needed to go out swinging and serve tough if we wanted to finish this.”
Cathedral Catholic celebrates a third straight Dave Mohs Memorial crown by defeating Mater Dei. Photo by Alex Valladares
Cathedral Catholic built off the experience and momentum gained from Dave Mohs in order to produce a 25-23, 25-19, 26-24 sweep Thursday against Torrey Pines (4-3) in a showdown of the top two programs in the San Diego Section.
“We threw in some lineups that we’ve never tried before and they worked, so we’ll probably use them again,” Kordas said. “It was good to test those lineups and get some confidence with them.”
Mater Dei and Cathedral Catholic could meet again Sept. 20-21 at the Durango Fall Classic in Las Vegas.
Corona Centennial (14-7) prevailed 25-18, 25-21 against San Clemente in the silver bracket final.
El Toro (10-8) triumphed in the bronze bracket championship with a 25-23, 25-14 win against Laguna Beach.