Someone was going to win two in a row Thursday night at the 5A team badminton championship. The question: Would it be Xavier or Chaparral?

The Firebirds answered in the affirmative and are state champs after beating the Gators, 5-2, in the title match at Horizon High School.

The title was Chaparral's first since the Firebirds nabbed a 4A title in 2007 and completed an 18-0 season for coach Carrie Davis and her squad. Chaparral's two in a row were the regular-season defeat it hung on Xavier earlier this month, 5-4 and Thursday's triumph. The victory prevented Xavier from winning back-to-back titles.

"We worked so hard for this," Davis said. "Three-hour practices on Saturday. Getting that belief in their minds."

Chaparral got an extra jump on Xavier in this meeting, winning four of the six singles matches instead of splitting as it did back on Oct. 4. That made for a less-stressful demeanor for Davis since two of Chaparral's doubles teams are among the top eight  at state when that part of statecompetition  resumes on Saturday.

Chaparral was leading in every doubles match Thursday winning the first game. They clinched it when their No. 2 doubles team of Courtney Foltz and Alex Hoffman defeated Xavier's Jessica Michael and Kerstin Oxkan, 15-8, 15-13.

Stacey McGuire, Hoffman, Courtney Foltz and Allison Gordon also recorded wins to get Chaparral the five points needed.

Xavier, which competed with five players not in its lineup at state last year, still felt a sense of accomplishment despite not repeating as champs.

"We battled the whole way, a lot of close matches, a couple that went three games," Xavier coach Nancy Meyer said. "We came in with almost an entirely new team. I'm happy with what they accomplished."

McGuire, a senior who will continue on at state Saturday trying to win a doubles title with partner and fellow senior Ashleigh Foltz, was relieved to notch a team title in her career before graduating.

"it's about time," McGuire said. "We felt comfortable with the lead we had going into doubles. My older sister (Christina) was on the 2007 team that won. Now I'm on a championship team, too."