Staff photo / Preston Byers. The McDonald girls volleyball team poses with its district championship trophy after its victory over Lake Center Christian on Wednesday at Berkshire.

BURTON — A decade ago, the McDonald girls volleyball program did not even exist. Now, in its seventh season, the Blue Devils have claimed their third consecutive district championship.

McDonald earned its third straight district trophy and its 12th straight win of the season Wednesday with a sweep (25-18, 25-19, 25-18) of Lake Center Christian in the Division VI, Northeast 3 district final at Berkshire.

“I’m so proud of my girls,” McDonald head coach Mike Klockner said. “They put so much effort into this, and I’m so happy for them to see the benefits of that hard work. I couldn’t be more proud of them. … All the credit to the girls and my coaching staff, from the junior high up to my assistants. The girls, like I said, they put in so much time. They deserve this, worked hard for this. I’m so happy for them.”

Entering Wednesday’s match, McDonald had swept its last three opponents, boasting a 10-set win streak across four matches. The Blue Devils, while extending it, had to work for their 11th, 12th and 13th straight set victories.

It did not appear that would be the case early in Burton, though, as McDonald took seven of the first nine points of the opening set and established an 11-4 lead with a Halle Kuntz ace.

Lake Center, which swept No. 23 Southern and then third-seeded Campbell in the district semifinal despite being seeded 25th, strung five points together to close the gap with McDonald to two.

After McDonald widened the advantage back to six, the Tigers rattled off seven of the next eight points to tie the set at 17-17. The Blue Devils finished the set much as they began it, however, and secured their first-set victory on an 8-1 run to take the early lead.

“We knew it was going to be a tough match,” Klockner said. “Lake Center has a great team, they’re always fundamentally sound and they have a middle that’s tough to stop.”

Similarly, McDonald opened the second set by jumping out in front 6-2 before Lake Center rallied and flipped the momentum.

Down 12-8, the Tigers, buoyed by an increasingly louder crowd, won eight straight points to take a 16-12 lead before Klockner called a timeout. The break worked to perfection for McDonald, which returned to play and earned four straight points of its own and reclaimed the lead before Lake Center called a timeout.

Although the Tigers put up a fight down the stretch, they could not manage to claw away the Blue Devils’ advantage on the scoreboard, as McDonald again effectively sprinted to the finish by winning six of the set’s final seven points.

After four straight points to begin the third set, McDonald surrendered the lead during a seven-point streak by the Tigers, who eventually lost control of the set amid a 10-3 McDonald run.

The Blue Devils, who won 15 of the subsequent 20 points to take a commanding 23-14 lead, weathered a Tigers comeback attempt late to clinch the sweep and yet another district title.

With the win, McDonald (21-3) has officially won 12 matches in a row, four matches straight without dropping a set and have swept nine of its opponents during the month-long win streak, which began after back-to-back losses to Crestview and Mineral Ridge.

“You have to come prepared every match,” Klockner said of what his team learned from those mid-September losses. “And I always tell them, ‘Anytime you lose, turn it into a positive,’ and that’s what they did. We learned from our mistakes, we kind of tweaked things a little bit, and the girls have taken off since.”

The Blue Devils will try to extend the streak in the regional semifinal, where they have faltered each of the last two years, against Northeast 2 district champion Independence. Fifth-seeded Independence swept No. 10 Kirtland at Berkshire shortly before McDonald took the floor on Wednesday.

“Outstanding team. They went far last year, so we know we got our hands full,” Klockner said of Independence.

McDonald and Independence will play at Uniontown Lake High School on Thursday, Oct. 30.