LEWISBURG– Midway through the third set of Tuesday’s girls volleyball matchup between Lewisburg and Hughesville, it looked like the Green Dragons were about to pull away.

Lewisburg had eked out two close wins through the first two sets and was on a 10-1 run in the third before the Spartans took a stand, taking the next two games to set up a deciding fifth frame.

Hughesville’s Anna Easton got the Spartans back on track in the third with a kill to end the Lewisburg run before taking the next four points and forcing Green Dragon head coach Amanda Geer to take her first timeout of the set.

“It’s a learning curve for these girls with the adversity and knowing how to handle it,” Geer said. “We’ve experienced a lot last season and even in the beginning of this year, but I think we’re finally starting to see that if we stay calm and play our game good things are going to happen.”

The Hughesville comeback in the third was nothing new for the Green Dragons, as the first two sets were decided by a combined seven points. Lewisburg fought back to tie the first set at 17 before taking the lead at 21-19. After a timeout from Hughesville, Ella Vance and Claire Chandler took over to close out the set.

Vance knocked two kills to the hardwood to put the Green Dragons up 23-19 before Chandler finished out the set with a kill and a subsequent service ace.

“Claire’s been a really strong player for us this year, and she makes good, smart plays when we need her to,” Geer said. “She hustles and she’s a great team leader, she’s really helped us a lot this year.”

The second set was more of the same, with Hughesville quickly climbing back after giving up the first three points, drawing even on another kill from Easton. The Green Dragons pulled out to a 15-10 lead, but the Spartans fought back again and Lewisburg needed a big swing from Vance to stop the momentum. It worked, and Lewisburg pulled out the 25-22 win after two set points.

Hughesville continued to climb back in the third set, tying the game at 16 before proceeding to trade points with the Green Dragons. Kylie Rauch delivered a kill that kicked off a Spartan run, forcing Lewisburg to tie the game at 24 on another kill from Chandler. It wasn’t enough, and an error gave Hughesville the third set.

“I think they started working together and communicating more starting in the third set,” Hughesville head coach Brandi Liddic said. “I told them that we needed to keep the ball off the net and communicate more, and I think that was the difference.”

The Spartans continued their third-set play into the fourth, keeping close with Lewisburg before going on a 7-2 run to end the set and force a deciding fifth set.

Lewisburg started hot in the last frame, going up 5-1 before a kill from Virginia Morini forced a Hughesville timeout. It didn’t slow the Lewisburg momentum, though, as the offense continued to click, with Ellis Reed and Vance both recording critical kills in the victory.

The Green Dragons reached their first match point at 14-7 and, after an error, the Spartans committed one of their own, giving Lewisburg the 3-2 win.

“I think it really showed the grit that the girls have, and they’re really finding it in themselves,” Geer said. “I went in there before the fifth set and just asked them what was going to fire them up, and I think we came out a little more focused.

“It really showed in how we played those last couple of points, they wanted it, and they pushed really hard,” she continued.

The hard-fought loss for the Spartans, however, didn’t come without lessons. Hughesville battled from the brink and managed to make adjustments on the fly, all things Liddic was impressed with on Tuesday night.

“Their coverage tonight for hits was really good, and when Lewisburg started to tip certain ways, we did a good job making changes and getting there,” Liddic said. “So, coverage I loved, and when we had a good set, we got some good hits out. I really can’t complain about how we did on the stat sheet.”