When it comes to team bonding, the Sauk Prairie girls volleyball team doesn't take a back seat to anyone.

The Eagles enjoy team dinners and sleepovers and share a fondness for watching "Hannah Montana: The Movie."

"We seem to have some kind of obsession with the movie. I'm not sure why," said Alex Gust, a four-year starter at middle hitter and a team co-captain. "We've had team movie parties and we quote certain lines and everyone will start cracking up. Our coach just rolls her eyes and laughs at us because it's so random sometimes."

A trip to a team camp last summer also inspired an idea for T-shirts with "SP" encased in a Superman logo on the front and the slogan "Going to State. Not even Kryptonite can stop us" on the back.

But what makes Sauk Prairie unique is that it has two sets of sisters - senior Alex and sophomore Caroline Gust, and senior Lauren and sophomore Alison Halweg - as starters on a team that will be making its state tournament debut Friday at the Resch Center in Ashwaubenon.

"We're pretty close because we went to the same private elementary school together and we've known each other since pre-school," Alex Gust said. "On the court, we've trusted each other for so long because we've been playing volleyball together since fifth grade."

Added Lauren Halweg: "We're all practically like sisters."

The Eagles will play Appleton Xavier in a Division 2 semifinal at 4 p.m. Friday. A win would put Sauk Prairie in Saturday's 3 p.m. championship match.

"The best part is we've worked so hard and so long for this,'' said Lauren Halweg, a three-year starter at setter.

The Eagles shared the Northern Badger Conference title with Waunakee last year and finished second this season.

Sauk Prairie wasn't ranked in the latest Wisconsin Volleyball Coaches Association Division 2 poll, but the Eagles knocked off No. 5 Madison Edgewood, No. 6 Edgerton and No. 9 River Valley on their way to state.

Coach Eleanor Engelby, who is in her fifth season, said the team chemistry is at the foundation of the Eagles' success.

"The bond was naturally there to begin with," Engelby said. "Along with the sisters, a lot of the girls have been friends for a while, so the bond has been very natural and so open and honest and the friendships have been great."

Added Alex Gust: "Our team unity and working together helped us a lot. We don't have one person to rely on. There are a lot of good players on our team. If you have a bad night, someone will pick you up."

Plus, Caroline Gust said there are certain benefits to having an older sister on the team.

"It is really fun knowing that you always have someone to go home to and talk about practice with," she said.

Growing up with the Halweg sisters has made making the trip to state that much more enjoyable, Caroline Gust said.

"It's like having two more sisters. Our whole team is just one, big family. It's so much fun playing with all of them," she said. "We're just so close and together, which is why going to state is so exciting for us."

The Halweg and Gust sisters have added a fifth member to their "respective families" this season with the addition of senior middle hitter Ida Sekse, an exchange student from Norway who is staying with the Halweg family during the school year.

"Ida likes to rub it in my face that she is a month older than me. But I treat her like my baby sister," Lauren Halweg said with a laugh. "She is on the volleyball team with us and is going to state with us. So we have three Halweg girls going to state."

Alison Halweg, a starter at outside hitter, said the family atmosphere surrounding the team has made it a memorable season no matter how it ends.

"That I get to go to state with my sister is a big part of it," she said. "We've played together for a long time. This is a big deal. We just love being together."