Lady Hornets Complete Incredible Comeback to Sweep Trojans

A week after being a point away from sweeping Bedford only to , the Saline Hornets weren't about to let another victory slip away.

Facing Monroe Tuesday at , the Hornets cruised to 25-13 and 25-10 victories in the first two games. But with a chance to sweep the Trojans, the team started the third set in a funk, giving up 14 straight points to fall behind 19-4 and then 22-10. That's when senior co-captain Marissa Owen stepped up to the service line and the Hornets put their game faces on.

Saline fired off 12 straight points and then Monroe scored two points to put the Hornets' backs to the wall, 24-22. Saline scored the game's final four points to win 26-24.

"That might be the biggest comeback that I know of in Saline volleyball," said head coach Lisa Shea.

Owen, who served two aces during the 12-point run that got Saline back in the game, said Saline started the third game a little overconfident.

"I think we weren't as focused as we should have been. Suddenly we were down 19-4. We decided that we didn't want to go to a game 4. We regained our intensity," Owen said. 

Still, Owen can't recall ever coming back from such a large deficit before—not even playing pickup volleyball with friends.

Owen led the team with 32 assists. Junior Mackenzie Shand had 11 kills and six blocks. Sophomore Jess Wolma had eight kills and six blocks.

The Hornets and Trojans started the night in a see-saw battle.

"We were a little slow to start the night," Shea said.

Saline was down 11-9 in the first game when the light came on. Shand, Wolma, Jessi Markey and Mackenzie Schumborg seemed to get a hand on everything Monroe sent over the net. With Shand serving, the Hornets went on an 11-point run to blow the game open. Ani Agbabian, Schumborg, Wolma (2), Markey and Shand had kills during the run. Saline closed out the game with a tip and a kill from Agbabian.

The Hornets dominated the second game from start to finish.

Game three started with Saline making several errors. Monroe jumped out to a 5-2, but most of the points came on Saline miscues. The Hornets made it 5-4 and then Monroe went on its 14-point run. Midway through the run, coach Shea called a timeout to right the ship, but the Hornets continued to struggle.

Wolma finally ended the run with a kill. With Wolma serving, the Hornets went on an four-point run and seemed to gain energy. Monroe, which played much more confidently at the net in the third game, got another block to end the run and then added another point when a stray Saline shot went out of bounds. Shand made it 21-9 with a kill and the Hornets got another point to make it 21-11, but Monroe answered with another point to edge closer to victory.

Saline's climbed back into the game with the 12-point rally. Owen fired two aces and Shand had two blocks for points during the run. Perhaps the biggest point came with the score 22-18. The two teams battled back and forth on a long rally, with both teams making great defensive stops to keep play alive. Finally, a Monroe shot fell out of bounds and Saline earned the point.

They needed it.

Saline tied the score at 22 but gave up the next two points to give Monroe a 24-22 lead. Saline caught a break when a Monroe server fired a shot into the net. Junior Lauren Powell then tied the game at 24 with a kill. Shand fired two straight aces to seal the victory for the Hornets.

Shea said the team is still learning how to finish.

"We put the first two sets away the way we were supposed to and then we got lazy and put ourselves in a big hole," Shea said. "On the one hand, the girls showed great resilience in climbing out of that 19-4 hole.  nd that's something I want them to remember—that they are capable of coming back no matter how far behind."