RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany – As Ramstein’s setter, Emalie Edwards recognizes who’s on and who’s off during every match.

During the Division I championship match against rival Stuttgart on Saturday afternoon, the sophomore saw everybody was on rhythm, and it made her job either.

The Royals took care of business, sweeping the Panthers 25-16, 25-18, 25-14, to retain the European crown.

Edwards peppered balls to senior outside hitter Ella Yost, who recorded a match-high 11 kills and five aces; junior middle Aurora Lewis, who had four of her eight kills in the first set; and freshman middle blocker Aniya Diggins, who had four kills.

“When we’re in the rhythm, there’s no stopping us,” Edwards said. “As soon as we start, we know what to do and how to finish, and we were able to give it our all.”

The Royals finished a perfect season, not losing a single match en route to defending their 2025 European crown. And during the tournament, the top seed lost just a single set to Lakenheath, which finished third by winning a five-set thriller over fourth-place SHAPE in the third-place match earlier Saturday.

Diggins said the camaraderie on the squad builds success for the Royals. She praised the veterans for building that culture and accepting her right into the starting lineup despite her youth.

“I don’t think I’ve been on a better team,” Diggins said. “Everyone’s really nice, and I love this team.”

Despite the Panthers’ success against most of Division I this season, they couldn’t get much of anything against Ramstein all season long. The Royals swept the season series, and during round-robin action, they won all three sets vs. the Panthers.

In Saturday’s final, Ramstein trailed just twice, both times early in the third set. Nahla Neboh had a pair of kills to make it 3-1, and after Ramstein tied it at 3-3, a serve error gave Stuttgart the lead against at 4-3.

The Royals outscored the Panthers 22-10 the rest of the set, with Devinity Taylor slamming the door shut with the match’s final point on a kill from the left side of the net.

“We knew what to expect from (Stuttgart), and we knew what we had to do to win,” Yost said. “It was a team effort.”

Individual effort was noted as well.

Both Edwards and Yost praised Diggins for her effect on the Panthers’ attackers during the match. Called “the player I never knew I needed” by Edwards, the freshman blocked four Stuttgart attacks for points, and she recorded numerous other blocks.

“Nothing got past her,” Yost said of Diggins. “It’s been really amazing as a senior, to see the freshman on the team grow so much in a season and become one of our star players.”

For the Panthers, Brooklyn Biles led the way with seven kills. The junior outside hitter left the match for a bit with an ankle injury, but she wasn’t going to miss the last chance with play with the current squad and returned because she wanted to play one last time with some of her teammates.

“We all wanted to win, but it’s OK because we lost as a team,” Biles said. “We still love each other. We have next year.”

Lewis, Yost, Biles and Stuttgart’s Victoria Lugo made the All-Tournament team. SHAPE’s Cailyn Hall, Kaiserslautern’s Nalah Pene, Vilseck Mila Mitchell and Wiesbaden’s Lillie Redeen rounded out the squad.