On the “home” side of the stands at Colorado Springs Christian School, hanging just above the bleachers is a bright yellow banner proudly displaying the dominance of the Lions volleyball teams that won six straight state championships from 2004-2009.

Between then and now there’s been league and regional titles, but underneath state championships the numbers have seen a nearly six-year lull.

The 3A Region 5 host Lions added another regional championship Saturday with a 3-0 win (25-10, 25-14, 25-9) over Centauri after defeating Kent Denver 3-0 in the first match of the day. For third-year CSCS coach Lori Currier, this could be the best chance the Lions have had in a long time to win another state championship.

“It’s definitely the biggest possibility that we have had in a few years and it’s definitely something that we’ve been striving for in the last couple years,” Currier said.

This season, the Lions (21-4) returned all 12 players that made it to the 3A state semifinals a season ago when they fell to Eaton, the eventual state champion.

The Lions held two big leads in two sets against Eaton last year but then gave up big runs that allowed Eaton to overcome every deficit.

The Lions are determined to not let that happen this season.

“We’ve been really working on stopping runs of two to three points,” Currier said. “We’ve been working on switching up plays if there starts to be a run so we’re not just trying to do the same thing and have the same outcome again.”

The Lions displayed that tactic in full force on Saturday, winning five of six sets by double-digit points and the other set by nine.

The Lions gave up a few runs but never long enough to let either opponent get into a rhythm.

“That’s the way they’ve grown this year from last year,” Currier said. “I definitely think that they know that they can’t give up momentum like that anymore.”

Kent Denver took the lead just once against the Lions and it came in the third set.

The Sun Devils took a one-point lead that was quickly erased when the Lions went on an 8-0 run and never looked back.

“We were pretty confident going in (to regionals),” said senior Abby Skrastins, who leads the team in kills. “We had a lot of expectations leading up to this year and we were just really excited to get back to state.”

Skrastins and fellow senior Jamie Nielson believe Eaton and Manitou Springs pose the biggest threat to CSCS winning another state title.

The Lions know if they are going to win a championship, it’s those two teams they have to get through to get that title. The Lions’ only loss in league play this season came against the Mustangs.

The state tournament begins Friday and the championship games will be held Saturday evening. For the five seniors on the Lions’ roster, this is their final chance to leave their mark on the banner that hangs proudly in the CSCS gym.

“I wouldn’t say it’s the most important thing,” Nielson said. “This year we have a lot higher expectations of ourselves because we’re not just the underdog team with no seniors.”

“It’s something that I’ve been looking forward to- and I know a lot of other girls, too-since I was in elementary school,” Skrastins added. “There’s a lot of years of motivation.”