The Goshen Lady Eagles volleyball team punched their ticket to the Class 2A tournament for the second consecutive year on Saturday.

After finishing the regular season and area tournament as champions, the picked up wins against Billingsley (25-14, 25-21, 25-12) rival Ariton (25-9, 25-22, 23-25, 20-25, 15-5) and Washington County (25-12, 27-25, 30-32, 21-25, 15-9) setting them up to play in the championship against St. Luke’s.

Even though the Eagles came up short in the championship game, the runners-up will advance to the state tournament.

“We had an exciting weekend,” said Eagles head coach Amy Warrick. “We had a lot of fun. It was a lot of hard wok, but it was a lot of fun.”

The Eagles lost five seniors from 2015 and fielded a young team in 2016.

“There was a lot of hard work in this team,” Warrick said. “I am very proud of this team. This team really didn’t have any starters on it other than Hannah Calhoun, who came up last year and started.

“I can’t even tell you how proud and blessed I am. It was great to have that honor. So many things had to work in our favor … they got the big wins when they needed to.”

The Eagles were involved in two consecutive five-set matches.

“They are young and you can see that on the court,” Warrick said. “When they rally and they decide to turn it up, they can be as good as anybody.”

In the win against Artion, the Eagles jumped out to a 2-0 lead before surrendering the next two by a combined five points. With their season on the line, the Eagles kept battling and secured the spot with a set five win.

“I was really worried about Ariton,” Warrick said. “Ariton is known for being fighters. They beat us in their place and they are a really good team and well coached. I knew it was going to be a battle and I knew it could go either way.”

The Eagles will play Fyffe on Wednesday in the first round of the state tournament at the Crossplex in Birmingham.

“I have talked with other coaches who have play Fyffe and they are a really good team,” Warrick said. “They seem to be a really well coached team.”

The match begins at 11 a.m.