Not this time, Notre Dame.

Not with a state title appearance on the line.

And certainly not with the Millennium Tigers playing in front of their boisterous home fans.

Unlike their previous meeting about two weeks ago, when Notre Dame lost the first two sets but rallied to win in five, Millennium made sure to end Wednesday’s match early, sweeping the Saints 25-21, 25-21, 25-14.

Up next for the Tigers is a trip to the 5A state championship on Friday at Veterans Memorial Coliseum, where they’ll face the team that beat them in the championship match last year, Horizon. 

“Getting to the finals was our goal,” Millennium coach Julie Vastine said. “Six (championship appearances) in a row. I guess we are just lucky. But the girls want it. That’s their expectation every year.”

Wednesday’s match also marked the end of the stellar career of Notre Dame’s Evan Hendrix.

(Evan Hendrix, No. 2, Notre Dame)

The athletic Texas Christian commit helped her program win a title two years ago and reach the 5A semis the last two seasons. The latest chapter between Notre Dame and Millennium probably was determined during a couple of important stretches in the first two games.

Both teams did an excellent job of siding out during the first half of the first game. When Millennium extended its lead to three points, 17-14, for the second time in the game, Notre Dame called a timeout.

When the Tigers had their first four point lead, 19-15, Notre Dame called another timeout. But Talea Mitchell’s kill while sliding to her right during a long rally added the Tigers’ 20th point right after the timeout.

There’s no quit in Hendrix and her teammates, though. Trailing by five, Notre Dame kept feeding Hendrix until she finally put away a set from the back row to spark a 4-0 run.

Both squads were serving aggressively from the outset, but it may have cost Notre Dame (11 service errors unofficially). A bad serve pushed Millennium ahead 21-19.

At that point, a player who was clutch in key moments, Gabbi Kucinski, took over for the first time. The junior pin hitter tallied two kills from the right side and two from the outside to finish off the first set.

“We are not done yet,” said Kucinski, a starter on last year’s team. “We want that ring.

“I want to shoutout my setter (Allison Wilson). She was giving me phenomenal sets the whole time. She was setting me up for success the entire time.”

Not completely rattled, Notre Dame grabbed the momentum early in the second game after (10-6 lead) a tip for a point by setter Emma McSorley.

But Millennium has an arsenal of weapons, and they were on full display while regaining the lead, 12-10. The talented squads then took turns siding out until Notre Dame grabbed a 20-19 advantage after an Isabella Cardello kill.

That’s when Kuncinski took center stage again. She collected two kills, one of which came after a Wilson dig off a Hendrix missile, and a block on Hendrix to put Millennium up 21-19. A Notre Dame hitting error and Kuncinski block on Hendrix then gave Millennium set point.

Anne Braukmiller added the final touch to Game 2 with a solo block on Hendrix. Brauckmiller also capped the third set but with a back row kill.

Not wanting to repeat what happened almost two weeks ago, a confident Millennium team surged ahead, 9-2, in that third set. Notre Dame (29-12) did organize a 6-0 run after that, but that was the final push of the year for the Saints.

When the match was over, Millennium’s fans celebrated with their 34-6 volleyball team. They likely wouldn’t mind doing so again after Friday’s finale.