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“We can work,� Guy said. “We can be in shape. We can be really great volleyball players. But the mental strength is what wins games.�

The second-seeded Buccaneers needed every bit of that strength Wednesday night, as they edged No. 1 seed Queen Anne’s County, 25-22, 14-25, 25-23, 17-25, 15-13 to win their second consecutive Class 2A East Region II championship for the first time in program history.

Seeded third in the 2A state tournament, Kent Island (14-3) will host No. 6 seed Glenelg (12-4) in a state quarterfinal on Friday at 5 p.m.

“This season our whole motto was playing with intention and being intentional,� Guy said after the Bucs stretched their winning streak to six, which included a second five-set victory over their county rival in 14 days. “We’ve lived by that all season long. We prepare for every single match. It comes down to being a mental game.�

That mental challenge began in the opening set, which was tied nine times. The last of those knots was at 22-22 before Kent Island’s Alana Van Ornum (15 kills, 12 digs) served out the final three points in a 25-22 win.

The Lions (14-3), who split with the Bucs during the regular season, never trailed in the second set — the only one of the match that had no ties. Sydney Pinder (13 kills) sandwiched a pair of kills around Bianca Baker’s kill, turning a three-point edge into a 13-7 lead that ballooned to 18-8 after service runs from Alli Dill and Jensen Nutley (14 digs). Queen Anne’s never allowed its lead to get under eight the rest of the way en route to evening the match.

Kent Island moved to the big lead in Game 3, with Addison Dayton serving the Bucs to an early lead. A Van Ornum ace just inside the back line swelled that lead to 11-3. The Lions rallied though, with Lauryn Hill’s nine-point service spree pushing Queen Anne’s in front at 15-12. A Kent Island block evened the slate at 16-all.

Baker’s kill moved Queen Anne’s to a 20-17 lead, the biggest lead either team would have the remainder of the set. But Kent Island responded with two kills from Madison Parks (six kills) knotting the scored at 23-23. The Bucs closed out the match, as Queen Anne’s hit an errant return on Aubrey Kline’s serve, then watched Kline’s following serve touch down just inside the back line for a set-sealing ace.

The Lions struggled briefly with their return game with Kent Island’s Dayton and Madison Saville on the service line, as the Bucs built an early 6-1 lead in the fourth set. But Jory Long’s kill, coupled with her ensuing eight-point service run, gave Queen Anne’s the lead at 9-7.

The teams again settled into a back-and-forth battle before the Bucs’ receiving game hit a rough patch during Nutley’s 10-point flurry from the service line. A sideout ended Nutley’s run, but Baker (19 kills) capped the Lions’ Game 4 win with a kill, pushing the match into a fifth set.

Queen Anne’s took an early 3-0 lead in the fifth set that would be tied eight times, the last time at 13-13. Kent Island tapped a winner to make it 14-13. Then, with Dayton serving, Queen Anne’s sent a return wide, cementing the match and a second straight title for the Bucs.

“We play with intention,� Guy said. “And they encompassed that tonight, especially after losing that (fourth) set. We were neck and neck the entire fifth set, and to hold that resiliency through the end of that set is just something that I can entirely be proud of.�

Notes: Aliyah Black and Kline each finished with 15 assists for Kent Island, and libero Yuna Matsui had a team-high 14 digs.