There was only one more rung on the ladder to go up and the lady Axtell Eagles volleyball team was hungry to reach to the top of the ladder after finish third and second the last two years at State in 1A-DII. That last step was achieved by the Eagles on Saturday after a 5-0 State tournament claiming the school’s first ever State volleyball title. 

Axtell opened the State tournament on Friday in pool play and entered the tournament as the seven seed. First on the docket was a showdown with two seed Waverly and after a slow start to the match Axtell found themselves down a set to the Bulldogs of Waverly but pulled together and behind their all-around play won the next six sets they played on Friday and next ten sets overall at the State tournament to win the whole thing. It started by taking sets two and three against Waverly to win the match in three sets 18-25, 25-21, 25-10, then continued against Cunningham and Wallace County in pool play earning straight set wins in both matches. The Eagles beat the three seed Cunningham 25-19, 26-24 and topped the six seed, Wallace County 25-15, 25-12 to finish pool play 3-0, winning the pool and moving into the Semifinals for the third straight year at State. 

In the Semifinals Axtell faced off against Otis-Bison and used runs in the middle of the first and second sets to capture the win in straight sets 25-18, 25-17 and earn the opportunity to play for the State title. The Championship match pitted Axtell against the team that beat the Eagles the previous year for the 1A-DII State title and the number one seed this year in Wheatland-Grinnell. This time however Axtell continued to soar at State and earned the win as the Eagles who were down 24-21 late in the first set rattled off five-straight points to storm back and take the first set and then carry that moment into the second set and win the match 26-24, 25-17 to win their first ever State volleyball title. 

Going 5-0 at State wrapped up the season for Axtell with a 27-15 record as they won their first ever volleyball State title and notched a top three finish at State for the third straight year.