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GORHAM — The Washington Academy volleyball team hasn’t had too many opportunities for payback recently.

The Raiders had one Saturday, and they didn’t miss it.

Washington Academy won its second straight Class B state championship and avenged its only regular-season defeat, taking down top-seeded York, 3-2. The second-seeded Raiders had a 30-match undefeated streak end with a 3-1 loss to the Wildcats in their regular-season finale.

Washington Academy dropped the first set, 25-23, won the next two, 25-14 and 25-18, then followed up a 27-25 loss in the fourth set with a clinching 15-12 victory in the fifth, scoring the final three points.

“After that loss, it was definitely motivation for us to come back,” said senior Kellan Schwinn, a force all match with 24 kills and seven aces. “It was such a tight game that we knew, if we just put our ‘A’ game out there, we could really push.”

Washington (16-1) defeated York in the state final for the second year in a row. The Wildcats (15-2) were led by Evie Martin, who had 19 kills and three aces. York had shown a penchant for comebacks against Washington, coming back from a 1-0 deficit in the regular-season win and forcing a fifth set after trailing 12-6 in the fourth Saturday, but the rally magic ran out.

“We had a lot of holes that we fell into early, and we were able to climb out of them,” coach Kevin Hill said. “Being down two sets to one is a really tough spot to be in.”

It’s not much easier to have to face a fifth set after seeing a chance to clinch the match slip away, which was the case for Washington Academy. But as the pressure rose, the Raiders stayed calm.

“We really just look at the next set as a fresh start,” said junior Aubrey Faulkingham, who had 17 kills and two aces. “We take it and we completely forget about all the other sets.”

Not that they weren’t aware of the magnitude of the moment, trying to fend off an opponent that wouldn’t go away against rising pressure. York erased an 8-2 deficit en route to winning the first set as well.

“It was crazy,” Schwinn said. “I was terrified, but excited.”

In the fifth set, it was Washington’s turn to rally. Back-to-back aces by Martin helped York turn a 9-6 deficit into a 10-9 lead, and a Jillian Holland kill put the Wildcats up 11-10.

The teams were tied 12-12 when York hit into the net, giving the ball back to Washington. Schwinn’s serve wasn’t returned, and Faulkingham had a kill for the deciding point.

“Payback wasn’t necessarily our focus; we just knew that in order to beat a team like York, we were going to have to play our top game,” Raiders coach Corey Schwinn said. “I expected a really tight match. I wasn’t really looking forward to a five-set match, but I knew it was very likely in the cards.”

Hill credited his team for taking the defending champions to the brink.

“That was really the name of the game, falling into holes too early,” he said. “It was a tough position to be in, but we played our hearts out.”