Three-peat within reach for Mater Dei

Monarch girls go for third straight crown in Division | behind Ostovar and Matavao.

- By STEVE GALLUZZO

STEVE GALLUZZO For The Times LAYLI OSTOVAR led Mater Dei in kills en route to player of the year honors.

As the 2025 high school girls volleyball campaign gets underway, no program in the Southland is garnering as much attention as Mater Dei — and for good reason.

Led by reigning coach of the year Dan O'Dell, the Monarchs have won back-to-back CIF Southern Section Division 1 titles and are trying to become only the second team in section annals to capture three straight in the top playoff division.

The first school to three-peat in the highest division was Newport Harbor, which won three straight Division 1AA titles from 1997 to 1999 under coach Dan Glenn.

Spearheading Mater Dei’s chase for history are reigning player of the year Layli Ostovar, a senior outside hitter committed to USC for beach and indoor, and fellow All-CIF outside hitter Westley Matavao, who flourished as a sophomore for the Monarchs after a mandatory sit-out period after transferring from Orange Lutheran.

Matavao, an early commit to UCLA, had 12 kills in the final of the Durango Classic in Las Vegas in September and was named the tournament MVP. She ended last season with 276 kills (3.5 per set) and 284 digs in 80 sets. Last Tuesday, the junior picked up right where she left off, pounding 15 kills and serving three aces in a season-opening four-set triumph over San Clemente.

Ostovar was the team’s kill-leader last fall with 337. Her sisters — setter Ayva and libero Kayla — graduated in the spring, but the Monarchs bring back three strong middle blockers in Addison Coady, Emma Kingston and Sierra Robinson.

Mater Dei won back-to-back Division 1 crowns in 2017 and 2018 (also under O’”Dell) but its bid for three in a row ended with a four-set loss to Redondo Union in the finals in 2019.