They played throughout the season like the favorites.

So it came as no surprise that the No. 1 and 2 seeds met in the final match of the 3A volleyball season. But just like last season, 2023 belonged to Snowflake.

The Lobos defended their championship Friday after defeating Valley Christian 25-21, 16-25, 25-16, 25-22 during a competitive match at Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

Snowflake suffered some injuries early in the year, when it was swept by No. 1 Valley Christian in three games, but the team regrouped and found its mojo down the stretch. The Lobos won 31 of their final 34 sets.

“We overcame so much,” Snowflake coach Jamie Robinson said. “But we worked as a team. Really, we are a family.”

Three of Snowflake’s players, Chelsea Caskey, Macey Gardner and Fresno State-bound Livi Schneider, each finished with 11 or more kills.

Gardner (.525 hitting percentage) established the middle while Schneider and Caskey (.375 hitting percentage) were a handful on the outside.

The powerful Schneider helped set the tone early after eviscerating a set down the line, leading to a loud ovation from Snowflake’s large contingent in the stands. Snowflake led 13-4 and 18-11 before Valley Christian responded with a first set 10-1 run to move ahead 21-19.

That stretch was highlighted by an Ansley Venkatesh dig as she was falling down, allowing her team to collect a kill.

Venkatesh also was serving and had two aces during that run, which ended with a Ellie Stuber kill.

But Snowflake shutout its opponent the rest of the way, partly because of Caskey’s four kills. In the second set, Valley Christian regrouped, however, when it siezed control early and never trailed in the game.

As a team, it hit .343 in that set. The left-handed Kelsey Brooks did most of the damage for Valley Christian from the outside as she kept winding up and finding open spots.

Gardner and Schneider then got rolling in the third game, tallying 11 combined kills in the set, when the Lobos led 17-7. But Valley Christian answered once again, this time with a 5-0 run before the Lobos, like in Game 1, regained control down the stretch.

Just before the fourth set began, Snowflake chanted ‘one more game, one more game’ in its huddle before returning to the court. The poised Lobos played like they didn’t want the match to go five games from the outset of Game 4, jumping ahead 15-7 and 16-8.

But as it did throughout the match, Valley Christian battled back, leading to some anxious moments for the Lobos. Valley Christian got as close as 23-20 after a kill from Brooks from the right side and an ace by Claire Gilbert.

A Caskey kill in the middle after a set by Braxton Jones, who also played at a high level, ended the match, though, giving Snowflake its sixth title.

“The culture in Snowflake is really special,” Caskey said.

“Everybody (fans) is here to back us up, and our community is really great.”

Valley Christian, the 3A runner-up, had a succeessful 2023 campaign with a 31-9 record. (Jose Garcia/azpreps365)