Durango Fall Classic notebook: All No. 1 seeds advance from pool play to qualifying round

LAS VEGAS, NEV. — The top seeds held serve on Friday in pool play at the Durango Fall Classic, setting the stage for an epic second day of action in bracket play.

There were a few bumps on Friday as some of the one-seeds needed three-set victories, but Durango is about surviving not how it's done.

Of the 16 No. 1 seeds, 14 are in this week's MaxPreps Top 25 including No. 2 Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.), No. 3 Marymount (Los Angeles, Calif.) and No. 4 Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.).

All three needed a three-set victory, including Sierra Canyon's opening match in which the Trailblazers dropped the first set 17-25 to three-seed Saint Francis (Mountain View, Calif.) before notching 25-11 and 25-16 set wins.
Mater Dei lost the first set as well in its match with two-seed Folsom (Calif.) before winning 25-19, 25-11 to secure a 3-0 day.



Marymount, likewise, had to win the final two sets against its pool two-seed Mercy (Louisville, Ky.).

Xavier College Prep (Phoenix, Ariz.), No. 5 in this week's MaxPreps Top 25, didn't drop a set on Friday. But the Gators got a wake-up call in their 1 p.m. opening match against Chaminade (West Hills, Calif.) as the Eagles raced out to a 6-0 lead in the first set and extended it to 11-3 before Xavier got on track.

With all the one-seeds winning their pool, it sets up a gauntlet of a qualifier where the winners advance to the championship bracket and the losers battle for the silver division title.

Saturday schedule (MaxPreps rankings)
No. 2 Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.) vs. No. 43 Skyview (Nampa, Idaho), 8 a.m.
No. 11 Cathedral Catholic (San Diego, Calif.) vs. No. 12 Assumption (Louisville, Ky.), 8 a.m.
No. 5 Xavier College Prep (Phoenix, Ariz.) vs. No. 16 Mira Costa (Manhattan Beach, Calif.), 8 a.m.
No. 8 Torrey Pines (San Diego, Calif.) vs. No. 14 Harrisburg (S.D.), 8 a.m.
No. 3 Marymount (Los Angeles, Calif.) vs. No. 22 'Iolani (Honolulu, Hawaii), 9:15 a.m.
No. 7 Redondo Union (Redondo Beach, Calif.) vs. No. 19 Archbishop Mitty (San Jose, Calif.), 9:15 a.m.
No. 6 Cornerstone Christian (San Antonio, Texas) vs. No. 17 Marist (Chicago, Ill.), 9:15 a.m.
No. 4 Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) vs. No. 32 Corona del Sol (Tempe, Ariz.), 9:15 a.m.

The winners play in the quarterfinals at 11:45 a.m. with the semifinals scheduled for 2:15 p.m.

The finals are slated for 4 p.m.



All matches in the Championship Division are at Silverado High School.