Pleasant Valley earned its second straight Class 2A state volleyball championship on Wednesday, downing Lindsay Lane (25-18, 19-25, 25-16, 25-23) in four sets at Bill Harris Arena in Birmingham.

The Lions, who also fell to the Raiders at last week’s North Super Regional, finished their fantastic campaign with a 44-16 record and Red Map trophy.

Lindsay Lane held a 19-12 lead in the fourth set before Pleasant Valley delivered a 9-0 run to put itself in position to close out the win. The Lions did save a pair of match points late but ultimately couldn’t force a fifth set.

“You could tell in the first set that they (Pleasant Valley) had been there before,” Lindsay Lane coach Alex Dizon said. “Bill Harris is a little different than we’re used to, too, and I think that depth perception affected our hitting — we had a lot of errors. I thought once we settled in, though, we played well. There were a lot of calls there in the fourth set that could have gone either way … three or four points that could’ve bounced differently. And if you get in that fifth set, anything can happen.”

Lydia Carter (21 kills, 13 digs, three aces), Emily Gallaway (five digs), Kaylin Jones (16 kills, four digs, four aces and two blocks), Alice Morrison (11 digs), Taylor Gallaway (three digs), Riley Green (34 assists, seven digs) and Lily Jackson (13 digs) were the top contributors.

Carter, Jones and Green were each named to the All-Tournament Team.

The Lions will graduate seven seniors — Madison Tucker, Carter, Madelyn Menefee, Lucy Morrison, Kynsley Looney, Millie Lewis and Jackson — but do welcome back several key players who will no doubt be aiming for a return to the big stage next season.

Consider Dizon excited for the future.

“We do lose probably our best player in Lydia and other seniors who’ve been great teaching young players,” he said. “But the good thing is we return a good core group that should bring back more experience and know now what’s required to keep being successful.”