A season of 30-some matches among 25 Division I volleyball schools has yielded a clear, yet cloudy picture as to which team will hoist a championship trophy come Nov. 10.

Five schools -- defending D-I champ Desert Vista, Xavier Prep, Gilbert, Hamilton, and last year's D-II winner Sunnyslope -- are the teams to beat. All of them won first-round matches to reach the quarterfinals. Which one prevails? That's the rub. All are capable. A case can be made for each. Play continues Thursday Nov. 5 with quarterfinals, Saturday Nov. 7 with semis and the title match Tuesday Nov. 10. The quarterfinals are at the sites of high seeds. The semis and finals take place at Mesquite High School.

Let's go by tournament seed of these schools and check their qualifications:

#1 Desert Vista is the hottest team of the five at present. Coach Molly West has a roster with eight D-I commits. The Thunder have won 15 consecutive matches (counting invitationals) and its two power-ranking losses were in September (Gilbert and Sunnyslope). With five players on the floor a lot in last year's title run helping the push toward another (Hailey Harward, Hailey Dirrigl, Olivia Fairchild, Rachael Kramer and Kendall Glover), Desert Vista has a chip in the game. Desert Vista won two of three invitationals it participated in (Westwood TOC and Nfinity SOCAL Invite in San Diego). The Thunder were third in the highest division at the Nike TOC.

#2 Xavier Prep has the state's and one of the country's best players in senior hitter Khalia Lanier. Lanier battled an ankle injury that cost her a couple weeks of action and setter Callie Jones has missed most of the year with a dislocated finger. Jones has returned off and on of late, but isn't 100 percent. A recent starter relegated to the sideline by injury is sophomore hitter Lanie Wagner, who might see action in the tournament.  Still, the Gators are formidable and can't be dismissed despite the health issues. Xavier defeated Gilbert and Sunnyslope in regular-season matches and lost to Desert Vista and Hamilton. The senior leadership of Lanier, Jones and libero Kristen Largay has been invaluable. Makenna Patterson has been one of the most improved players in the middle for Xavier.

#3 Gilbert can be all over the map in terms of level of play. One night mediocre, the next outstanding -- even awesome. The Tigers have a 1-2 punch in hitters Kaitlyn Lines and Makenna Martin, get plenty of backup offensively from  Krystal Blair and Alexa Rockas and get solid play from setter Sam Boever and libero Kamryn Hill. Gilbert defeated Desert Vista, Sunnyslope and Hamilton in regular-season matches. It lost to Xavier. Its second-to-the last regullar-season match vs. Hamilton was evidence a state title is in reach.

#4 Hamilton is much like Desert Vista in terms of how consistent its play is night to night. The Huskies have several weapons and don't need one attacker to stand out all the time. Defense is normally stellar and they are built for winning now and certainly next year with four of its top players juniors or sophomores. Hamilton defeated Sunnyslope and Xavier and bowed to Gilbert and Desert Vista. Hamilton starts three juniors in middle Preslie Anderson, Sydney Lostumo, Kayla Banyai and sophomore Darian Clark. Together with seniors Olivia Hallaran and libero Hailey Babcock the Huskies have the personnel to nab that elusive first championship.

#5 Sunnyslope took on a huge challenge this year, moving from the dominant program in D-II to duke it out with the best in D-I. They Vikings have held their ground. Coach Amber LeTarte's team started a bit slow, maybe deer-in-the-headlight syndrome. That's in the past. Sunnyslope lost to Xavier and Gilbert early, but rebounded to knock off Desert Vista after the early losses to the former two schools. The Vikings went 5-2 in Gilbert's Invitational in mid-October getting a win over Gilbert. Slope has been fortunate enough to have four seniors lead the team to D-I contender status -- setter Katie Oleksak, hitter Skylar Wine, opposite Libby Fleury and libero Sarah Marinez.