High school volleyball: No. 3 Marymount beats No. 2 Sierra Canyon to win 30th Durango Fall Classic title

LAS VEGAS, Nev. — No. 3 Marymount (Los Angeles, Calif.) pulled off a reverse sweep of No. 2 Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.) in the championship of the 30th Durango Fall Classic on Saturday in what could be the first of as many as five meetings between the Southern California powers this season.

The Sailors and Trailblazers meet Sept. 29 and Oct. 7 in league play. There is potential for a Southern Section Open Division meeting and a possible Southern California regional match. 

But Saturday, Marymount used hot hitting and serving from tournament MVP Samantha Destler to earn its second Durango title 21-25, 25-15, 25-12. Outside hitter Makenna Barnes and middle Elle Vandeweghe also came up big for the Sailors.

"They really came to play today," Marymount coach Cari Klein said. "The first warm-ups (of the day) we had so much energy and I was like 'woah.' I think they brought the energy and everyone started feeding off it." The Sailors opened the day with a 25-19, 18-25, 25-17 qualifying win over No. 22 'Iolani (Honolulu, Hawaii) and then won bracket matches over No. 7 Redondo Union (Redondo Beach, Calif.) (25-21, 25-19) and No. 4 Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) (21-25, 25-19, 25-18) to reach the final. 

Marymount bookended its Las Vegas weekend with a 3-0 loss Thursday to No. 14 Harrisburg (S.D.) before flipping the switch and running off seven wins for the title.

Sierra Canyon, the tournament's top seed, beat Skyview (Nampa, Idaho) 25-23, 25-19 before wins over No. 12 Assumption (Louisville, Ky.) (25-19, 25-19) and No. 5 Xavier College Prep (Phoenix, Ariz.) (25-19, 20-25, 25-19).

"We could have gotten them in a much tougher situation today, right?" Sierra Canyon coach Stephanie Wigfall said of Marymount. "But their block was phenomenal tonight and we didn't do a good job of getting around and through their block. They wanted it more than we did in those moments. And that's not something I'm happy about as a coach, but that's also not saying my team didn't want it. 

"They just outworked us in pivotal moments and were more disciplined than us. They're hard to stop and if you're not perfect and your offense is not firing at that moment, they will steamroll you."

That was evident after Sierra Canyon took the first set 25-21 and led early in the second set before a Barnes ace grabbed the lead at 9-7. Marymount would outscore the Trailblazers 14-8 the rest of the way in the second before blazing to leads of 7-2 and then 13-5. By then, and with Sierra Canyon out of timeouts, the Sailors traded points on their way to the title.

All-tournament team

MVP  — Samantha Destler | OH | Marymount (Los Angeles, Calif.)

Makenna Barnes | OPP | Marymount

Katelyn Oerlemans | OH | Marymount

Olivia Penske | S | Marymount

Lucky Fasavalu | S | Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.)

McKenna McIntosh | OH | Sierra Canyon

Madeleine Zaragoza | L | Sierra Canyon

Westley Matavao | OH | Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.)

Layli Ostovar | OH | Mater Dei

Vivian Hickman | S/OH | Xavier College Prep (Phoenix, Ariz.)

Tessa Larkin | OH Xavier College Prep

Finley Krystkowiak | OH | Torrey Pines (San Diego, Calif.)

Abby Zimmerman | OH | Redondo Union (Redondo Beach, Calif.)

Brooke Codey | OH | Assumption

Elayna Davidson | L | Marist (Chicago, Ill.)

Breya Dawson | OH | Cornerstone Christian (San Antonio, Texas)