With one vicious cross that ricocheted off the court, Sara Shaw unleashed a wee bit of frustration while ending a three-game drubbing of Westlake’s nearest district contender.

The Chaps’ senior captain then screamed in joy and hugged her teammates as they celebrated another District 25-5A championship after a 25-18, 25-13, 25-23 win over Bowie Tuesday at Bowie High School. The exuberance didn’t last too long for No. 4 Westlake (31-6 overall, 12-0 in district), which always raises its expectations to a state-tournament level. However, it did feel reflect a sense of accomplishment for the Chaps, who won a fourth straight district title.

And a win on the home court of second-place Bowie (28-14, 10-2) made the win particularly sweet, said Shaw, who delivered 20 kills in a performance worthy of her all-state status.

“There was lots of excitement and a huge crowd,” she said. “It’s good for us to play in hostile environment like this. We were fired up to play Bowie, and we really wanted to be district champs.”

Shaw got plenty fired up late in the third game when a pair of her swings appeared to deflect off the fingertips of Bowie’s tall front row before bouncing out of bounds. However, the officials didn’t call a touch, and the errors helped the Bulldogs reel off a four-point run that tied the score at 23-23.

Undaunted Shaw capped a lengthy rally by whipping a pass from Avery Edwards to the floor for a 24-23 Chap lead. Moments later, she delivered the final kill and triggered Westlake’s celebration.

“Sara got a little angry at the end, and that’s always good to see,” Westlake coach Al Bennett said. “It shouldn’t have been that close because there were two touch calls that were missed. But we got a little adversity and responded. That may be the best thing that could have happened.”

Westlake faced little adversity in the first two games while racing to substantial early leads. The Chaps seized a 7-1 advantage in game one and led 6-1 in the second game. Bennett credited his team’s serving and its defense at the net against a Bowie squad missing one of its leading hitters, Jessica Hall. The Chaps had nine blocks, including three by Kenzie Hume.

“Our blocking was really big tonight, and our serving was very good,” he said, citing Edwards, Paige Caridi, Amanda Welsh and Tessa Hunt. “Those four kept them [the Bulldogs] off-balance, and then we bring in Sassy [Shaw] with the power.”

Caridi had a strong game at the net with five kills, including four in the second game. Jennifer Schuler came off the bench for four kills in the third game, and Ella Praisner provided balance on the right side with four kills.

Edwards (25 assists) and Welsh (12 assists) delivered maestro performances at setter in Westlake’s 6-2 rotation.