ADAIR VILLAGE -The top seed from the PacWest Conference in the 3A state volleyball playoffs was on the line Wednesday night.

The match pitched a Santiam Christian team that cruised through its regular season without dropping a league match, and Creswell, 12-2 in PacWest play with its only two defeats coming at the hands of the Eagles.

Santiam Christian left no doubt about the identity of the conference's top team, sweeping Creswell for a third time this season.

Set scores were 25-12, 25-19, 25-14 for the Eagles.

Santiam Christian head coach Kim McLain was thrilled to finish the year undefeated in conference play.

"It feels really good to win the league. It was fun to coach these girls and that makes my job easy," McLain said.

The Eagles came out of the gate quickly and put away Creswell with dominant play at the net in the opening set.

Creswell regrouped and battled hard in the second game. The Bulldogs took an early 4-2 lead, but Santiam Christian regained control and stretched its lead out to 20-12.

Unwilling to give up, Creswell was able to get within five points before Santiam Christian eventually won the game.

"Creswell is a very well-coached team and they have solid athletes," McLain said. "We definitely have some weak spots and Creswell was able to take advantage of that in the second game."

Feeling some momentum after fending off the late Creswell comeback attempt, Santiam Christian took immediate control in the third game and was never threatened.

McLain felt that her team got the job done in victory.

"I think we played well overall. It comes down to the basics like passing and defense to succeed. It was good for the girls to play a team like Creswell before the playoffs," McLain said.

Sophomore Sara Almen led all players with 12 kills and four blocks for the Eagles. Senior Tayla Woods, who was named PacWest Player of the Year after the match, had 14 assists, 11 kills, four blocks and three aces. Anna Wruck added 10 kills and Kiersten Hendrix led the Eagles with 17 assists.

With the conference season finished, the Eagles are now looking ahead to the 3A state playoffs. Santiam Christian will host the No. 3 team out of the Lewis & Clark Conference on Saturday.

Santiam Christian's goal in the playoffs is to win its first state championship since 2003. Even with these lofty expectations, McLain is keeping the team grounded.

"The number one thing going into the playoffs is to focus on us. It is a team sport and we must remember that going forward," McLain said.