BIRMINGHAM — Lexington is on the brink of its eighth state volleyball title, and all the Golden Bears need to do to win it is beat second-ranked Providence Christian today.

And, that will be easier said than done.

Both super regional champs easily advanced to the 1:30 p.m. Class 2A title match at the Birmingham Crossplex by winning twice Wednesday.

“It feels great to get back to the finals,” Lexington coach Melissa Hammond said after watching her team dismantle West End 3-0. “It’s been awhile since we’ve played for the state championship.”

In reality, it’s only been three years since the Bears lost to Addison in the 2009 title match. But for a team steep in volleyball tradition, that’s a long drought.’

Lexington’s most recent state title came in 2008.

The third-ranked Bears topped Zion Chapel 3-0 in their first Elite Eight match and did the same to West End in the evening semifinal.

“It’s awesome,” setter Savannah Stults said. “We played really well. We’re all talking and playing as a team.”

It was a good all-around effort by the Bears (43-8), who simply wore down West End with their defense and dominating net play. The result was a 25-21, 25-10, 25-18 victory.

“You want to be playing your best at this time of year and I think we are,” Hammond said.

Addie McGee led Lexington in the semifinal win with 22 kills and five blocks. Sydney Corum tallied 16 kills and two blocks as Savannah Stults had 44 assists.

“Our defense was good,” Hammond said. “It all starts with getting good passes and they were almost perfect.”

McGee had four kills in a 5-1 run that put the Bears ahead to stay in the first set and Corum closed it with three straight kills.

Lexington simply dominated the second set, scoring the first eight points while building a 23-3 lead over the stunned Patriots (32-24).

“That’s as good as we have played all year,” Stults said.

Lexington ended the third set with an 8-1 run to clinch a berth in the championship match. Again, it was Corum, a senior, with four late kills that sparked the run.

“It starts with our defense and our back row does a great job of telling the hitters where the holes are,” she said.

Earlier, McGee had 17 kills and Corum added 16 as the Bears beat Zion Chapel 25-16, 25-10, 25-15. Stults had 31 assists.

n Hatton falls in semifinals: Providence Christian (53-2) ended the possibility of an Area 15 final, downing Hatton 3-0 (25-13, 25-16, 25-14).

Victoria Crumpton led the Hornets with seven kills, while Carey Grace Peebles added five kills and four blocks.

Elizabeth Dowd led Providence with 12 kills and 12 digs.

Hatton advanced to the semifinals, downing Mobile Christian in five games behind 19 kills from Victoria Crumpton.