Manhattan ? Veritas Christian’s volleyball team played in a 21/2-hour match Saturday for the rights to the Kansas Christian Athletic Association state championship.

It was exhausting, but well worth it.

The Eagles defeated Wichita Area Homeschool Athletic Associated to capture the first state championship in school history.

“It was amazing. It was a sense of exhaustion, relief and celebration,” Veritas coach Kristen Oberzan said. “We have 12 girls on the team. We really had to be mentally tough in order to sustain it. We used our whole bench in that match to keep fresh feet on ground. And we didn’t lose a beat.”

Veritas, the No. 5 seed, beat No. 1 Wichita Sunrise (25-16, 25-21) in the semifinals and edged Wichita Area Homeschool (25-22, 25-17, 12-25, 23-25, 25-19) in five sets in the finals.

The Veritas state champions roster: seniors: Shereen Fattaahi, Madison Eakin; juniors: Ellen Phillips, Brittany Rask; sophomores: Sarah McDermott, Alison Dover, Madi Bennett, Abi Bartlow, Kristen Finger, Nicole Symons; freshmen: Teri Huslig; eighth grader: Lacey Billings.