Heritage Christian banded together to get a 25-23, 25-20, 25-18 win against Nova Classical and take home the Class 1A, Section 4 championship Thursday night at Bloomington Kennedy High School.

The Eagles were composed throughout the match, unwilling to let a hard-fighting Knights team any chance at a victory.

“We played together and played unified,” said senior Sarah Suits.

Despite coming into the contest as the No. 1 seed in the Class 1A, Section 4 bracket, Heritage Christian Coach Tom Fuglestad said he wanted his players to focus on the fundamentals and get back to the basics.

Every one of those fundamentals was needed against a second-seeded Nova Classical team that had only lost one set coming into the Section title game and kept rallying back.

“It was about keeping it positive and tweaking different things, but keeping it positive” said Knights’ coach Rachel Zinter.

Despite the tweaks, Nova Classical could not work past the Eagles, who will appear in their second straight state tournament.

Heritage Christian was able to hold off Nova Classical 25-23, 25-20, 25-18 in Thursday's Class 1A, Section 4 final at Bloomington Kennedy High School. 

The Eagles (23-10) earned their second straight appearance in the state tournament with the sweep. 

Sarah Suits kept Heritage Christian pushing forward, pulling the team together in the huddles and during timeouts. 

Nova Classical (26-3) never stopped working, coming back numerous times, but the Knights were unable to pull ahead after being faced with strong defense from Heritage Christian.