More than 100 volleyball players from Basha, Centennial, Corona del Sol, Gilbert, Horizon, Mountain Pointe, Sunnyslope and Xavier Prep pause between matches Saturday at the annual Gilbert Invitational that benefits cancer-stricken individuals in the local community. (Photo courtesy of Dennis Webb) 

 It seems we're back where we started in late August trying to figure out who the best volleyball team is in the state.

Mountain Pointe raised its hand high this weekend by winning all seven of its matches Friday and Saturday among an elite field at the 4th annual Gilbert Volleyball Tournament.

The Pride have been slightly under the radar, but likely no longer not after defeating Xavier Prep, Corona del Sol, Basha, Gilbert, Horizon, Sunnyslope and Centennial -- all top-10 teams either in 6A or 5A.

"We trying to be in the mix," Mountain Pointe coach Karen Gray said after the Pride defeated Xavier 25-21, 21-25, 15-13 to clinch the tourney's best record. "We played very well this weekend, and have most of the season. One week you think Hamilton is the team. The next Perry or Corona. We want to be in the conversation."

The teams Gray mentioned all have had or are having their moments. Hamilton is unbeaten in 14 power-ranking matches this season and was runner-up in a couple of tournaments/brackets this season --- Westwood TOC and Nike TOC. The Huskies won the Silver Bracket this weekend at the SoCal Invitational.

Perry opened the season 15-0 and won an invitational during that run. The Pumas also defeated Xavier in dramatic fashion a couple weeks ago. Corona won the Westwood's TOC and has one power-raanking loss -- to Hamilton. And there's Xavier . The Gators finished second at the Durango Classic in Las Vegas last month and were second at Gilbert with a  6-1 mark.

Back briefly to the match of the day. Mountain Pointe topped Xavier by overcoming a 6-2 deficit in the third set. At the time Xavier had momenum earned from bouncing back in the second set. Down the stretch in the final set, Mountain Pointe senior outside hitter Chapin Gray pounded four kills. She tied the match at 12 with her final kill and put the Pride ahead to stay with an ace (13-12). Middle hitter Avery Luoma closed out  the well-played match with a cross-court kill.

Chapin Gray led Mountain Pointe with 17 kills and added 10 digs. Luoma had 10 kills and Anna Morse and Becca Morse chipped in with 11 and 10 digs, respectively. Setter Gabby Leo had 30 assists. Xavier's attack centered around Makena Patterson (12 kills) and Lanie Wagner (11 kills). 

Xavier coach Lamar-Renee Bryant said the Gilbert tournament comes at the right time for most teams. 

"The race is on and we're turning the corner to the end," Bryant said. "We don't have a fall break and we only had one match this week. We've watched film and worked on some thing.  Playing in this tournament helps. We have Perry, Hamilton and Chandler left to play and want to finish as high as we can. We've lost to Perry and Hamilton so there's motivation there. You have to be at your best this time of year."

The tournament, hosted by Gilbert High, doesn't officially crown a champion and serves a dual purpose. It offers great competition for the field, who are usually title-caliber programs. It also serves to help local students and families involved in the volleyball community afflicted with cancer. That hit home for Gilbert High a few years back when boys volleyball player Matthew Peters lost a battle with cancer in 2013 at age of 16. 

No admission is charged at the two-day tournament, but donations are encouraged. The donations go to help cancer patients and this year those funds are aiding Charise Parsons, a parent of a Gilbert High volleyball player as she copes with the disease.