NORWALK – Mater Dei’s girls volleyball team already was great.

The Monarchs became greater when Westley Matavao joined the team.

Matavao had a match-high 12 kills for Mater Dei as the Monarchs swept Sierra Canyon, 25-20, 25-16, 25-20, in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 final Saturday at Cerritos College.

Mater Dei celebrates after defeating Sierra Canyon in 3 straight to win the CIF-SS Division I girls championship volleyball match at Cerritos College in Norwalk on Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Orange County Register/ SCNG)

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The Monarchs never trailed in the second and third sets.

It is the second straight Division 1 title for the Monarchs.

For Mater Dei coach Dan O’Dell, it is his fifth CIF-SS championship. His Mater Dei teams are 5-5 in CIF-SS finals in his 11 seasons as coach.

Mater Dei has won eight CIF-SS girls volleyball championships overall. That ties them with Newport Harbor and Santa Margarita for the most among Orange County teams.

Matavao, a sophomore outside hitter, transferred to Mater Dei from Orange Lutheran, where last season she was the only non-senior to make the All-Orange County first team. Because Matavao did not make the change of residence that would have made her athletically eligible at the start of the season in August, she had to sit out the first half of the regular season.

Not only is Matavao an explosive hitter – Mater Dei’s student section yelled “BOOM!” every time Matavao wound up for a spike or made one of her jump serves – she showed again Saturday her all-around skills as a defensive player, passer and setter.

Layli Ostovar, a junior outside hitter who made her usual big all-around contributions, had 11 kills and a team-high 10 digs.

She said Matavao’s presence on the court is as crucial as Matavao’s multiple skills.

“She’s an amazing volleyball player and she’s an amazing person,” Ostovar said. “With her on the court, everyone is a lot more calm. When I made three errors in a row, she came up to me and said ‘I believe in you, you’ve got this.’”

Mater Dei (35-4) and Sierra Canyon (32-5) will continue their seasons in the CIF Southern California Regional playoffs that begin Tuesday. All eight CIF-SS Division 1 playoff teams are eligible for the SoCal Regional. The regional brackets will be released Sunday.

The Monarchs won the CIF State Open Division championship last season.

O’Dell said the Monarchs’ largest advantage is having multiple players on the court who can score, pass, set or dig. They can move the ball to all sorts of scoring angles for their outside hitters, their opposite hitters and their middle blockers

“Layli and Westley get a lot of press and all of that,” O’Dell said. “But as soon as you think one of them is going to get the ball, we can go to someone else. Knowing we have six options at all times, between the two opposites, the two outsides and the two middles, we always do a good job making sure other teams have to be honest with us.

“The other kids, the complete team is what makes us special.”

Sierra Canyon, whose senior libero Lauren Lynch was one of the better players on the court all match, had a 4-2 lead in the first set before Mater Dei went on a 5-0 run to take control and go on to the 25-20 win.

Mater Dei jumped to an 8-2 lead in the second set on the way to the 25-16 win. The Monarchs started fast and strong in the third set, too, going ahead 6-2 on the way to the 25-20 win to complete the sweep.

Ostovar said the Monarchs are enjoying the journey and the teamwork it takes to make the journey successful.

“Everybody loves each other,” she said “There’s no drama. It’s such a fun team to be on.”

Senior outside hitter Presley Kiffin had six kills for the Monarchs Junior middle Addison Coady and sophomore middle contributed five kills each for Mater Dei.

Mater Dei girls volleyball wins second straight CIF-SS Division 1 championship with sweep of Sierra Canyon

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