Photo: Holton Recorder on X

We had an incredible storyline in Hutchinson on Saturday morning as it turned out to be an all Big East League matchup for the 3A State Volleyball Title. 

The #1 ranked Silver Lake Eagles defeated the #3 ranked Holton Wildcats in straight sets 25-21, 25-19 to capture their 10th state volleyball title in school history. 

Both teams went 3-0 in pool play on Thursday and were on opposite sides of the bracket in the semifinals on Saturday morning at the Hutchinson Sports Arena. 

Holton was matched up against #5 ranked Wichita Trinity Academy while the Eagles were matched up against Hoisington. 

Holton dropped the first set against the Knights 25-23 but bounced back winning the next two sets to take the match 25-23 & 25-20. The Eagles were tested by the Cardinals but Silver Lake swept that semifinal matchup 25-22, 26-24. 

The matchup between Silver Lake and Holton in the title match was the fourth meeting between the two in 2025 with Silver Lake winning the previous three meetings, all in three sets. 

Set one of the championship match was back and forth early with the set tied at 9-9 and then was tied again at 13-13 before the Eagles rattled off three straight to lead 16-13 forcing Holton to burn a timeout. 

Out of the timeout, the teams exchanged points with Silver Lake building a 21-17 advantage before the Wildcats scored four straight to tie it at 21-21. The Eagles would then go on to score the next four points to take set one 25-21. 

Holton charged out to a 4-1 lead in set two and then would have leads of 6-3 and 8-4 before Silver Lake would go on a run. 

Holton would call a timeout with the second set tied at 8-8, and then Silver Lake would follow that with an 8-4 run to lead 16-12 which led to another Holton timeout. 

The Wildcats would get to within 17-14, but that was as close as they would get in the second set as the Eagles would outscore the Wildcats 8-5 the rest of the way to win it 25-19 to complete the sweep and secure the title. 

Silver Lake finishes the 2025 season with the title and a record of 46-1 which included 37 straight wins to close it out. Eagles head coach Sarah Johnson won her fifth title with the program as she also captured state titles in 2013, 2014, 2016, and 2018. 

For Holton they finish the 2025 season with a record of 38-10 with the runner-up finish at state being the best finish in school history. 

Click here to go to the Holton Channel to watch the title match in its entirety. Complete results from the Class 3A State Tournament can be found here.