Volleyball state titles are nothing new to Thatcher and Pima. The 2015 Division IV title combatants combined for 19 titles in their histories prior to Saturday night. The team that most recently claimed a championship garnered another as Thatcher captured the school's 13th crown in the sport with a solid 25-20, 25-16, 17-25, 25-16 victory over Pima at Prescott Valley Event Center.

Top-seed Thatcher successfully defended its D-IV  title and finished the season 24-6. No. 3 Pima (25-5) was denied the school's eighth title in the sport, the last of which was won in 1984.

Thatcher has showcased plenty of weapons during the season and this match was no exception. The Eagles attack was led by Ashtyn Lunt and Danica Rowan with 11 kills apiece and eight from Kelly Motes. Motes and Rowan were a big part of last year's five-set title triumph over Northwest Christian and their performance this night showed their postseason savvy.

Both teams cruised through their first three playoff rounds, sweeping each of their opponents to produce a rematch from just 10 days ago. Thatcher won that one in five grueling sets. This one was a little easier for the Eagles.

"We played well the first two sets," Thatcher coach Ellen Robertson said. "Then I think we thought they would just give it to us in the third set. They didn't. We served well to start the fourth set ,and that put us on our way."

Thatcher played catch-up most of the first set, but put together a strong finish to take a 1-0 lead. After tying the set for the first time at 18, the Eagles pulled off a 7-2 run. An ace by Rowan and kills by Lunt, Macee Bingham and Motes were the key points.

The second set was all Thatcher with Lunt getting the Eagles off to a flying start with two blocks and a kill. After Pima closed a five-point deficit (8-3) to 15-13, Thatcher pulled away with a Motes' ace, a Rowan kill and then a bundle of Pima miscues -- net violations, hitting errors among them. 

Pima's best set was the third and it easily could have mailed in the match after Thatcher seemed to sap the Roughriders confidence after a 2-0 lead. Callie Thygerson, Angelica Guiterrez and Lyrica Tavesi combined for 12 kills in the set. Pima couldn't sustain that level of play and went down quietly in the fourth.

 Thatcher knocked off last year's D-V champ and No. 5 seed Arizona Lutheran earlier in the day in the semis, 25-20, 25-19, 25-21. ALA had a strong season considering it moved up a division. Pima defeated No. 15 Buckeye, the Cinderella team of the tournament, 25-10, 25-14, 25-21 to get its shot at redemption with Thatcher.