Westminster Christian is laden with nine seniors on its volleyball team and all nine sought an exclamation mark for their final season on the court.

Mission accomplished.

Fending off consecutive rallies in the first two sets, top-ranked Westminster Christian (46-9) closed out a 3-0 sweep of No. 5 Arab, 25-23, 26-24 and 25-13, to win its second straight state title in the 2022 AHSAA Class 5A title match Wednesday morning at Birmingham’s Bill Harris Arena.

“We’re thankful to even be in this position and to be competing at a high level right now is awesome to watch,” Westminster Christian coach Holly Richards said. “They’ve been a group of determined girls and that mindset at this tournament really showed through.

Senior Meg Paparella took home her second straight tournament MVP trophy after leading the Wildcats with 19 kills in the title match and 45 total kills in the tournament.

“It’s amazing but I also know I have my team backing me up the whole way,” Paparella said. “I play for them and I play for God.”

Arab took a quick 2-0 lead in the opening set but the Wildcats returned with a 5-0 run to help build a 14-10 lead. The Knights pulled to within two points on a 9-3 run and tied the set at 23-all on consecutive kills by Karli Walker. Paislee Shelton assisted Paparella on the tie-breaker and Rylee Sexton assisted Callie Tanielu for the winning score.

Westminster kept momentum flowing to open the second set, taking a 5-0 lead and extending the margin to 18-9. Arab struck out on a 14-4 run to tie the set at 22-all before both teams battled to an even 24 points each. Shelton again assisted Paparella on the tie-breaker and aided Tanielu for a second-straight set winner.

“We’ve had some issues throughout the season where we’ve been pressed and we’ve had to fight back,” Richards said. “We’ve been able to successfully do that for the most part throughout the season. That was probably one the greatest leads that we had and (they) tie it back up.”

Arab (49-14) fell behind 6-3 early in the final set but pulled to within a point before the Wildcats put the clamps down with a 10-3 run to take a 16-8 lead. The Knights came as close at 11 points in the waning moments but were unable to overcome Westminster Christian’s set-controlling run.

“That’s the third time we’ve played Arab and that’s the first time we haven’t dropped a set,” Richards said. “For them to be that determined to win it in three was really something spectacular to see.”

Westminster Christian has now won consecutive titles after earning the Class 4A title last season with a 3-2 victory over Montgomery Academy. The Wildcats did not drop a set in this year’s tournament for a perfect 9-0 record across three matches.

Key sequence: Shelton assisted on two of the most important kills of the match, setting up Paparella for the tie-breaking point and Tanielu for the winning score.

Arab tied the second set 24-24, rallying from a 9-point deficit, but Westminster Christian scored the final two points to take a 2-0 lead in the match and never trailed in the final set.

“We were up so much and then they came back,” Tanielu said. “It’s that mentality, I have to finish it. It’s a good ball, just go out there and finish it.”

Stat sheet: Paparella led the Wildcats with 19 kills, nine digs and an ace, followed by Tanielu with 13 kills and five digs. Paislee Shelton finished with 34 assists, seven digs and two kills, and Berkli Phillips added seven digs, two assists and an ace. Brianna Tinsley contributed three digs, three kills and three aces, and Rylee Sexton added nine digs.

For the Knights, Laney Kelley led the way with 16 kills, followed by Bennett Elrod with eight kills, nine digs and an ace. Karli Walker had eight kills and two digs, Sydney Ferguson added four kills, three digs and two aces, and Anna McFerrin finished with 37 assists, five digs and two kills.

All-Tournament Team: Joining Paparella (MVP) on the All-Tournament team were teammates Tanielu and Shelton, Arab’s McFerrin and Kelley and Montgomery Academy’s Addi Vinson.