ABOVE: Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther’s Londyn Bowers taps the ball past two Fairmont volleyball players during the third set of Tuesday night’s contest in Truman.

TRUMAN – A Londyn Bowers spike rattled the hardwood of Truman Elementary on Tuesday night, causing the Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther volleyball fans to jump into the air with celebration after witnessing their Jaguars come back from two sets down to defeat the Fairmont Cardinals in a nonconference matchup.

Despite falling 16-25 and 22-25 in Sets 1 and 2, the Jaguars (13-14) used their electrifying home crowd to power past the Cardinals (7-16) in the remaining sets, 25-22, 25-12, 15-10, to finish their regular season with a 13-14 record while breaking a seven-game losing streak.

“After being down two, they definitely wanted this game,” GHEC/T/ML head coach TJ Williams said. “It’s kind of a big rival, and the bleachers were packed, which was great to see. [The crowd] just helps the energy level in the gym and our girls feed off that energy.”

Bowers fueled the Jaguars in a multitude of statistical categories after her performance, tallying up a team high 19 kills and five blocks while tacking on 14 digs and four aces. Keira Benck had 24 set assists, while Willow Singleton led all Jaguars with 23 digs.

Fairmont’s Brylee Miller powered all Cardinals with 17 kills. Jadyn Montgomery wasn’t too far behind after picking up 13 of her own. Finally, Leslie Zarling tallied 33 set assists.

Consecutive aces from Zarling forced Williams to call a quick timeout after seeing his team fall 13-6 midway through Set 3, as Cardinal players celebrated their early success while looking to clinch the match victory.

After picking up a point off a tap over kill from Benck that cut the lead to 14-11, Bowers notched 4 straight service points to give her team their first lead of the set since it started. With the score back to a close margin, both teams traded points for the rest of the set without breaking much ground.

However, the Jaguars pulled away late after going on a mini 3-point swing that was capped off by another Bowers kill, giving GHEC/T/ML a 23-19 lead and forcing Fairmont head coach Stacy Garbers to burn a timeout as her team was close to facing set point.

A missed serve by the Cardinals sealed things up for the Jaguars to extend the match to a fourth set.

Benck started things off strong for GHEC/T/ML in set four after two straight service points jumped her team to an early 3-0 cushion. Despite a 4-point swing bringing Fairmont within one and cutting the deficit to 7-6, the rest of the set was all Jaguars.

GHEC/T/ML capped things off by scoring 10 of the last 11 points of the set, using 3 late service points from Ashley Singleton to fuel the victory and push for a match-deciding fifth set.

“Obviously, the big deal was Londyn and getting her the ball, but everybody started to feel a little more in touch with their swing,” Williams said. “We have a lot of offensive power, it’s just finding the rhythm, and sometimes we get off a little bit.”

Things seemed to keep rolling for the Jaguars after starting Set 5 with an early 5-1 lead following a powerful spike from Bowers.

But Fairmont didn’t give up.

Cardinals outside hitter Lilly Meyers was able to regain control after being blocked at the net, jumping up again to spike the ball and ultimately cap off a three-point swing that brought her team to a 10-8 deficit.

“That’s kind of been what we have done,” Garbers said. “We get behind 8 or 9 points sometimes, but we always manage to sort of battle back and get it to within 2, or if not, tie it. They don’t give up and finish till the end.”

Needing 2 more points to secure the comeback victory, the Jaguars leaned on a pair of senior leaders to push them over the finish line. Addison Nowicki and Bowers notched the final two points for GHEC/T/ML to earn the 15-10 set victory and complete the late-game heroics.

“The momentum off of this is great, we just have to keep it going from here on out,” Williams said. “There isn’t a team in our section that we can’t play with; we just have to want it from here on out.”

Fairmont started off the night with a commanding first-set victory, powered by the likes of Miller and Montgomery. The Cardinals separated from GHEC/T/ML early on after rattling together 6 consecutive points and taking an 11-4 lead, picking up kills from Miller and Makayla Lowry.

After Bowers spiked a shot into the hardwood to bring her team down 17-15, Fairmont scored 8 of the last 9 set points to clinch the victory. This run was thanks to Miller and Lowry yet again, who picked up key points off spikes and blocks to ultimately put the set out of reach.

Set 2 was a lot more competitive from GHEC/T/ML, who used an early nine-point swing to take a 13-7 lead over the Cardinals. However, a Meyer spike started a counterpunching rally for Fairmont that saw 6 straight points fall in their favor, regaining the lead at 14-13.

Montgomery finished things off for the Cardinals with her team leading 23-22 late in the set, securing consecutive spikes that propelled Fairmont to an early two-point match lead.

“I was very happy we came out ready to play and took those two games,” Garbers said. “But when we let down in that third game instead of finishing, that’s when it gets tough.”

GHEC/T/ML will play Mankato Loyola in its first-round matchup of the Section 2A Volleyball Tournament next Monday at the Fitzgerald Campus Gymnasium beginning at 7 p.m.

For the Cardinals, their first postseason opponent in the Section 3AA Volleyball Tournament is yet to be determined.