It was a battle between West Texas volleyball's legendary past and its increasingly bright future Saturday in the championship of the Nita Vannoy Memorial Invitational tournament.
It was unbeaten Monahans, riding a streak of four straight state tournament appearances versus unbeaten Central, which until last season hadn't won a playoff match since 1984.
The result?
''It's good to be a Lady Cat right now,'' said Central head coach Connie Bozarth.
The Lady Cats upped their season-opening winning streak to 13 matches by downing Monahans 25-19, 25-18.
The loss was Monahans' first in 15 matches this season.
Central's Stephanie Starnes was named the tournament's MVP, and led the Lady Cats with seven kills in the title match.
''I'm so excited. I wasn't expecting this at all,'' Starnes said of the honor. ''We feel like we can do anything right now, and I'm really excited for the rest of the season.''
Monahans' head coach Patty Dominguez agreed with Starnes' selection as MVP.
''That No. 9 is just a tough kid,'' Dominguez said. ''We haven't met any blockers or hitters like her. I wish we could play Central every other week for our benefit so we could get experience against her.''
Joining Starnes on the all-tournament team were Central teammates Whitney Daniel and Taylor Darby. Central's Regan Darby was named the tournament's Outstanding Setter.
Monahans' Kaitlyn Mitchell was an all-tournament selection and the Lady Loboes' Catherine Cutbirth was named the tourney's Outstanding Hitter.
Lake View's Haley Hill, who led her team to a fifth place finish in come-from-behind fashion over El Paso Coronado, was also named to the all-tournament team.
These two days belonged to Central, which didn't lose a single game in the tournament.
During the course of the 32-team tournament, Central had rolled to five early victories, including sweeps of El Paso Coronado and El Paso Eastwood Saturday, but Monahans made the Lady Cats work hardest.
Monahans led 9-4 in Game 1 against Central when Bozarth called a timeout.
''We took a deep breath and just relaxed,'' said Bozarth of the timeout that changed the whole momentum of the match. ''We knew that this was a team that you can't let get a large lead. It boiled down to us communicating and passing the ball so we could have all our hitters available.''
Central closed the gap quickly as Starnes, Lyric Ross, Stacy Teston and Daniel caught fire and Regan Darby kept them all involved in the action.
In Game 2, Central took an 8-1 lead and never stopped until they were hoisting the championship trophy above their heads.
''My face is about to split (from smiling),'' Bozarth said. ''Two tournaments, two first place trophies.''
What more could they want?
How about a state ranking?
When the state's Top 10 ratings were released last week without unbeaten Central on it, the Lady Cats players noticed.
''We were not very happy about that,'' Taylor Darby said.
If they keep playing like they did Friday and Saturday, they can't be ignored for long.
A note of thanks:
Central coach Connie Bozarth wants to thank the San Angelo Fire Department for providing fans when the air conditioning went out at the tournament.
2006 Nita Vannoy Individual Honors
MVP-Stephanie Starnes, Central, Jr.
Outstanding Hitter-Catherine Cutbirth, Monahans, Sr.
Outstanding Setter-Regan Darby, Central, Jr.
All-Tournament
Whitney Daniel, Central, Sr.
Meagan Saulsbury, Odessa High, Sr.
Haley Hill, Lake View, Sr.
Taylor Darby, Central, Sr.
Kaitlyn Smallwood, El Paso Eastwood
Kaitlyn Mitchell, Monahans, Jr.
Nita Vannoy results
Results from Saturday's matches in the Nita Vannoy Memorial Invitational in San Angelo.
Gold Division
Championship
Central def. Monahans 25-19, 25-18
Statistics
Central - Stacy Teston 6 kills, 1 assist, 1 block, 9 digs; Whitney Vick 8 digs; Whitney Daniel 3 kills, 11 digs; Lyric Ross 5 kills, 5 blocks, 3 digs; Taylor Darby 2 kills, 1 assist, 2 blocks, Stephanie Starnes 7 kills, 2 blocks; Regan Darby 19 assists, 1 block, 3 digs.
Third-place
Odessa High def. El Paso Eastwood 25-20, 25-13
Fifth place
Lake View def. El Paso Coronado 15-25, 25-18, 25-22
Lake View - Michelle Ruiz 8 kills, 9 assists, 11 digs, 2 assists; Kelly Causin 4 digs, 2 aces; Kali Jennings 1 kill, 2 solo blocks, 1 dig, 4 assists; Ashton McDowell 3 kills, 6 digs, 2 assisted blocks; Phoebe Granado 4 kills, 14 assists, Jetton Fontenot 2 kills, 6 digs, 2 assists; Haley Hill 15 kills, 12 digs, 1 block; Briana Barr 4 digs; Whitney Olness 1 block.
Semifinals
Central def. El Paso Eastwood 25-8, 25-13
Monahans def. Odessa 25-16, 25-14
Fifth place semifinals
El Paso Coronado def. Lubbock High 25-16, 25-27, 25-15
Lake View def. Lubbock Trinity 25-20, 25-23
Quarterfinals
El Paso Eastwood def. Lubbock High 25-9, 25-9
Central def. El Paso Coronado 25-10, 25-11
Monahans def. Lubbock Trinity 25-15, 25-11
Odessa High def. Lake View 25-22, 25-18
Keyed by Chance Helmers, Junior '06