The Sacred Heart Prep girls' volleyball team was just four points away from its first state championship since 1996. The Gators had battled back from a 2-0 deficit and now were primed to win it all with a remarkable comeback.

That comeback, however, never happened. Instead, Francis Parker (San Diego) battled back to tie the fifth set at 11 and then 12 before finally winning it, 15-13.

The title celebration that the Gators could see themselves in suddenly was gone in a 25-23, 28-26, 22-25, 22-25, 15-13 loss to the Lancers in the CIF Division IV state championship match on Saturday at Concordia University in Irvine.

Francis Parker (37-2) won its first state crown in seven years and the seventh in program history while Sacred Heart Prep (33-6) was runner-up for the second time in three years.

The Gators appeared prime to win it after Francis Parker made a hitting error to give SHP an 11-8 lead in the final set. After a timeout, the Lancers came out and scored three straight points to tie. A serving error gave the lead (12-11) and ball back to SHP, but the Lancers' Michaela Dews produced her 19th kill to tie at 12. Francis Parker served an ace and Dews made it 20 kills for a 14-12 advantage.

After SHP senior Payton Smith came up with her 14th kill, Lancers' setter Erika Conners got one through the SHP defense for the deciding point.

SHP senior Jillian Geary had scored three straight points to give her team an 8-5 lead, but errors led to an 8-8 tie. Geary later received the "Pursuing Victory With Honor" sportsmanship award, an honor given to each team.

Ellie Shannon, one of nine SHP seniors, helped rally the Gators from a 21-17 deficit in the fourth set with three kills before fellow senior Helen Gannon served back-to-back aces for the victory -- forcing the fifth and deciding set.

Shannon finished with 18 kills and Smith added 14. Along with Gannon and Geary, the other SHP seniors bowing out in their final match included Sonia Abuel-Saud, Cammie Merten, Cady Hellman, Jojo Kurtzman and Haley Cropper.

SHP coach Damien Hardy will return only one starter next season in current sophomore Victoria Garrick, who produced 16 kills in the championship match.

Sacred Heart Prep came into the finals ranked No. 1 in the state in Division IV by the Freeman rankings on MaxPreps. The Gators were No. 9 in the state overall and No. 38 in the nation.

— Palo Alto Online Sports

Are you receiving Express, our free daily e-mail edition? See a sample and sign-up for Express.