Xavier Prep has some veterans in its 2019 lineup and some newcomers. That mix worked just fine for the Gators the first week of the prep volleyball season.

Xavier opened defense of two 6A titles with a great start, culminating with a title-match triumph Saturday evening over Highland in the gold bracket at the annual House of Payne Invitational at Coy C. Payne Gymnasium. Scores of the final were 25-14, 25-16.

Xavier won its only power-ranking match this week with a sweep of Mesa Mountain View on Tuesday and then strode into Chandler and reeled off a 9-0 record in two sets of three pool games and breezing through three bracket games. Xavier lost just one set in its 10 matches this week. HIghland's record in the tournament was 5-4, 4-2 on Saturday. 

"I'm super impressed with how we played," Xavier coach Lamar-Renee Bryant said. "We have seven returners and seven new players. They've gotten on board right away with the seniors leading. There's a lot of pride for the players playing for Xavier."

In the title match, Xaver senior outside hitter Julianna Westfall was dominant on the attack. Westfall, who saw a decent amount of action last season, notched 11 kills in two sets. Senior middle Jasmine Knight and senior outside hitter Bri McNight who are returning starters, chipped in with seven kills apiece. McNight was named the tournament's most valuable player. Sophomore setter Alexa Shiner was solid throughout the tournament and has shown she is capable of handling the position.

Shiner helped Xavier get off to a fast start in the opening set at the service line. She served 10 successive points as the Gators bolted to a 12-3 lead and completely doused the momentum Highland brought to the final after its sweep of then tournament unbeaten Corona del Sol.

"We were pretty tired after the Corona match and we played so good," Highland coach Jordan Neal said. "Mostly it was Xavier just being that good. They passed perfect, their digs were perfect. We couldn't get them out of system."

Highland junior outside hitter Samia Bhakta registered a hard-earned eight kills, but had to be frustrated by Xavier's block led by Knight and Bella Sinacori and libero Abigail Converse.

The eight teams that qualified for the gold bracket - Xavier, Highland, Corona del Sol, Horizon, Basha, Sunnyslope, Salpointe, Chaparral and each had a representative on the all-tournament team.

Joining MVP McNight on the team are: HIghland libero Abby Peterson, Corona del Sol outside hitter Madelyn Noble, Horizon outside hitter Kaden Young, Basha outside hitter Samantha Drewry, Sunnyslope setter-opposite Blayke LeTarte, Salpointe hitter-middle Abby Russell and Chaparral outside hitter Cassie Seminoff.

The 2019 House of Payne all-tournament team from left: Corona del Sol's Madelyn Noble, Highland's Abby Peterson, Horizon's Kaden Young, Chaparral's Cassie Seminoff, Basha's Samantha Drewry and Xavier's Bri McNight. Not pictured Sunnyslope's Blayke LeTarte and Salpointe's Abby Russell. (Azpreps365 photo)