It was almost two months to the day.

Millennium High School’s volleyball team suffered its one and only loss of the season to Cactus Shadows. But on Saturday, with the Arizona Interscholastic Association's 5A state championship on the line, Millennium improved to 20-1 and was crowned victorious.

It avenged its regular season loss with a 25-22, 25-17, 25-20 victory at Mesquite.

Millennium head coach Julie Vastine said last year’s team, which lost in the championship, as well as this year’s team has always been compared to the 2018 championship team.

“It is pretty remarkable for this group to be here,” she explained. “And it is all because of the seniors leaving a legacy behind and getting the younger kids to play to that level. I mean how do you fabricate that other than having amazing kids. I am lucky to have these kids.”

In Game 1, tied at 12, Cactus Shadows battled it out with Millennium.

But Millennium scored five straight points, with the help from a push to the line that dropped, followed by a hit down the line and kill from Eryn Jones.

But Hollyn Frano of Cactus Shadows put the ball down from the outside, and a tip placed perfectly by Lauren Wamsley and ace from Frano helped bring the team within two points. But Millennium took Game 1 25-22.

In the second game, Cactus Shadows did not have an answer for Jones or Jordan Miller, who played opposite each other for a truly dominant rotation. Millennium beat Cactus Shadows 25-17.

Cactus Shadows head coach Chris Brown said in the practice prior to the championship match, the team talked about Jones and the threat both her and Miller are on the court.

“No matter what you do she found ways to score,” he said. “Every single time we knew where she was going to go and sometimes great players just find ways and she did that tonight.”

Again, in the third game, the teams battled and were tied at 13 and 17 and Cactus Shadows continued to give everything on defense. Wamsley was impressive getting balls up and down against Millennium at the 10-foot line and at the net.

“We always talk about how we want to sell out on defense and give ourselves extended opportunities and I think the girls battled as much as they could,” Jones said. “But when you have a team like that on the other side of the net who just knows multiple ways to score and keep us on our heels, there isn’t much we can do.”

Brown said when Jones goes to the back row, the attack remains while Miller is at the net creating challenges as well. Millennium remained in system and left Cactus Shadows guessing.

Jones said the energy on the court today for Millennium was infectious and helped everyone on the court play well.

“It was incredible to see how much each girl wanted it for everyone,” she said. “A big part of it is our defense and playing for each other.”

Jones said that having multiple options on offense does not allow a team to focus on just one girl.

She said that just shows what a full team Millennium is.

Miller said, thanks to her parent’s support, she was able to stay in online school, focus on volleyball and really push her skills to get to the next level.

“Being able to see all that come to life is a surreal experience,” she said. “And to cap this year off with a win means so much.”

Vastine said she’s always heard people say you have to peak at the right time and never really gave it much thought.

But over the past week, leading up to the championship, her team reached the mountain top of 5A volleyball with a complete team performance.