The visiting St. Paul's School for Girls volleyball squad came into Tuesday evening's match at Mount de Sales with only one loss.
The Sailors were seeking their second win of the season.
When it was over, the Gators had a 5-1 overall record, while the Sailors dropped to 1-4, but it wasn't easy for coach Kelli Wilkinson's squad.
The Gators lost the first set and won two others by just two points in the 19-25, 25-23, 25-17, 25-23 victory.
"Mount de Sales is always a team with a high volleyball IQ," Wilkinson said. "They don't make a lot of mistakes so even if they don't have the big power, they are very smart and they hustle. They make plays other teams wouldn't make with their hustle."
St. Paul's thrives on its power hitters and Jala Tucker (19 kills) and Mone't Peoples (12 kills) came through.
Tucker also led the Gators with 10 digs and five aces.
Peoples added four aces.
"Jala has great court vision," Wilkinson said. "She can bring the power when she needs to, but she also can see the court and that really helped us."
In the pivotal second and third sets, she had 10 kills and no hitting errors.
Her most important kill came on a tip in the third set with the Sailors leading 9-3.
The side out made it 9-4 and she served the next four points and pulled the Gators within one, 9-8.
Did the tip fire her up?
"It did, just knowing that I helped my teammates out," Tucker said.
It was the Sailors serving that helped earn them a win in the first set.
"Our serving was consistent and it was very aggressive," Mount de Sales coach Tuan Nguyen said.
Senior Lily Gretz (17 of 18 serves, 5 aces) was the leading server in the match for the Sailors, but classmates Raili Siebert (14 of 17, 3 aces), Mary Popp (12 of 14, 1 ace) and Zoe Kreisel (9 of 11, 1 ace) also served well.
"We had a bad run in the beginning," Wilkinson said. "We got into a big hole and couldn't climb out of it. They kept the pressure on."
The Gators also adjusted their defensive alignment after the first set.
"We were getting burned on those deep corners and we just made the adjustment and it really helped," Tucker said.
Even with the adjustment, the second set was tight until the end.
St. Paul's led 21-19, but a kill by Popp, off Camille Kreisel's assist, made it 21-20.
A St. Paul's hitting error knotted the score at 21-21.
Following a St. Paul's time out, Tucker's kill made it 22-21, before the Sailors tied it 22-22 after a net violation.
A missed Sailor serve gave the Gators a 23-22 lead, but the home team answered with Popp's kill off Siebert's pass and it was 23-23.
St. Paul's called another timeout and the Sailors missed a serve and Morgan Hill (33 assists) ended the set with an ace.
After the Gators won the third set, 25-17, the final set went down to the wire.
It was tied at 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 and 23.
A kill from the middle by Peoples made it 24-23 and the Gators won it when the Sailors were called for a lift.
Wilkinson was glad to see Peoples take charge in the middle.
"She really stepped up at the end being aggressive at the net, rather than just tipping balls over and that really helps against a scrappy team like Mount de Sales." Wilkinson said.
Popp (10 kills), Hanna Katulski (7 kills), Zoe Kreisel (5 kills) and Gretz (4 kills) led the Sailors attack and Popp (14 digs), Katulski (10 digs), Siebert (7 digs) and Zoe Kreisel (6 digs) led the defense.
Siebert added 18 assists and she showed off some outstanding hustle during a long rally in the final set.
She saved a ball with one arm swing after running past the bench and saved another with one arm by the net.
The Sailors won the point on Zoe Kreisel's kill and it gave them a 12-10 lead at the time.
"I just hope for the best and I hope it gets up," Siebert said. "I just tried to get it back into the court."
"They are fighting hard for every point," Nguyen said.
Against St. Paul's, unbeaten in the Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference (4-0), every point matters.
"They are a great team. They've got power hitting in the back row and front row," Nguyen said. "We've just got to play better defense. That's what we've got to work on. We've got to get the ball to our setters and get a chance to swing at the ball."