ALBANY — For some teams, one key win can change the course of an entire season. The Comets hope that was the case with the Sept. 28 five-set win over Pecatonica, 15-25, 25-22, 25-23, 17-25, 15-13.

Albany entered the match with just one win on the year — a full week earlier against Juda. The Comets had been shorthanded for a variety of reasons in the delayed and truncated season, and hadn’t been able to really find a rhythm on the court.

“In all the games we’ve played so far this is the first one we’ve had everyone healthy,” Albany coach Sydney Bump said. “We’ve had to have people quarantine or sit out for certain reasons, and this was our first game back with our whole team. It was exciting to win it.”

Pecatonica opened the match hot, taking a 9-0 lead, including an ace from Sydney Eaton on the opening serve. The Vikings extended the lead to 11-1, prompting Bump to call a timeout in the process.

“Yeah, we were down, but I knew this team could fight back, unlike teams in the past. I knew it was early, so in my head, I was fine with (dropping that first set). I knew there was still time to come back,” Bump said.

In the second frame, the Comets appeared to be on the verge of redeeming themselves, getting out to a 13-8 advantage. Then the Vikings came storming back, grabbing the point on 11 of the next 13 serves to go up 19-15.

Trailing 21-18, Albany was gifted a side-out on a short serve by Pecatonica senior Lily Busser. The fault ignited the Comets, which closed the set on a 7-1 run. Poor serving haunted the Vikings much of the second set, and the following three frames.

“We did a lot of really good things, but I think the biggest thing is our serving. You really beat yourself up when you miss 11 serves. That’s the highest amount of missed serves we’ve had this year,” Pecatonica coach Liz McGowan said. “I think focusing on our serves and going over-and-in instead of powering up at times can help with that consistency (moving forward).”

Albany led 20-13 in the third set, but Pecatonica rallied to square up the score at 23, making the home team hesitant. Bump called two timeouts in a matter of just two serves. Senior Aayliah Landen scored two kills from the left side to put the Comets up in sets 2-1.

“I think that by the third game we figured what we needed to do; we figured out what they (Pec) were doing and what worked and what wasn’t working. We were able to find a groove and take control of the rest of the match,” Bump said.

Coming back with a vengeance, the Vikings controlled much of the fourth set to send both teams to the game-deciding fifth. Less than a week earlier, Pecatonica went into a fifth set, only to knock off Argyle.

Pecatonica took the first two points of the fifth, but Albany grabbed four of the next five points. The two teams were squared away at 7, but a tip kill by Mady Conway and two more kills from Landen made it 10-7 Albany. 

McGowan called a timeout, but the Comets kept possession for another serve when Peyton Pendergrass slammed home a block kill to make it 11-7. Pecatonica then scored on six of the next nine points to make it 14-13 Albany, at which point Bump called a timeout.

“I leaned in before the timeout and asked if they wanted it — and they proved that and stepped up their game,” McGowan said.

On the Albany bench, Bump encouraged her players to show pride and close out the match.

“She said, ‘Who’s court is this? It’s ours,’” Flannery said.

Dahl added, “She said we have to keep it together — we have to finish. It’s our home court.”

When play resumed, players from both teams were glued in on the ball for each hit. Dahl watched it float her way and her eyes got big.

“I either was going to tip it or hammer it down,” Dahl said. She went with the hammer. “It was a good decision.”

The game-winning spike sent her teammates into the air in celebration.

“It was amazing. My heart was pounding and I had so much energy. I’m just glad that all the girls can get their heads up and can come back from something like that,” Flannery said.

Dahl finished with 10 kills to lead Albany, while Conway, Flannery and Landen each had eight. Dahl and Flannery each had five blocks and Conway had 21 digs in the back row. Payton Firth dished out 22 assists and recorded nine aces for the Comets. 

“I think we had a lot of important, key players that contributed overall. It was very much a team effort. There wasn’t one person that stuck out to me that was carrying the team — we all played together as a team and it was something that I was really excited about,” Bump said.