DaytonDailyNews.com

FAIRBORN — Anna backed up its season-long rating as the No. 1 Division III girls high school volleyball team in the state Saturday with an exclamation point.

The Rockets defeated defending state champion Cleveland Villa Angela-St. Joseph in the D-III championship, 25-20, 25-22, 25-23, at Wright State's Nutter Center to complete a 30-0 season.

It is the first volleyball title in school history, and Anna becomes the first Shelby County League team to earn a gold trophy in the sport.

"It's an amazing feeling," said Rachel Billing, a senior outside hitter. "Just amazing."

That Anna defeated VASJ (22-6) was not a surprise. But doing it in three games after VASJ dominated Huron in the semifinals left a lot of coaches and officials at bit stunned.

"They (VASJ) looked outstanding in the semis," said Anna coach Karen Zumberger. "But at the same time, you could see some of their weaknesses, which we felt we could expose. I'm sure a lot of people felt like we should be worried after the way they played in the semis. But if I had been the Cleveland school, I'd have been afraid of us.

"You could tell before the match the girls had a nice, quiet confidence about them. No one was scared. We were ready to play."

That was obvious from the opening moments of the first game when Anna went up 8-1 with 6-foot-3 junior Kelli Barhorst whacking six of her game-high 23 kills.

Last year, Barhorst had 10 hitting errors and an overall miserable game as Anna lost to VASJ in the state semifinals. "This feels much, much better than last year," she said. "We needed to get off to a good start and establish that we were ready to play."

VASJ came back to make it close after falling behind the first two games. But Anna was able come up with key points.

Play was outstanding on both sides in the third game with the scored tied 15 times, the last at 23-23. Barhorst gave the Rockets a 24-23 lead with a soft tip for a kill at the net. VASJ hit a return long to give Anna the 25th point and the state title.

Almost the entire town of Anna (population 1,319) was at the Nutter Center to celebrate the title, and they planned to welcome the state champs home Saturday night with a parade through town.