After a lopsided first-set loss to Dixon in the championship match of the Class 3A Rochelle Regional on Thursday, Sycamore was two points away from its season coming to an end.

But the Spartans rallied for the second-set win, then held on to win an incredibly close third set for a 13-25, 26-24, 25-23 win over the Duchesses.

“It just feels great because we work so hard in practice every day,” Sycamore junior Khiara Thomas said. “Off the court, on the court, in school, it doesn’t matter. We play together so much. And in those last two points, it helps so much. Instead of falling apart, we really came together.”

A Solis Thompson kill gave the Duchesses (22-10) a 23-19 lead in the second set after they dominated the opener, in large part due to the attack of Thompson and Leah Carlson.

[ Photos: Sycamore, Dixon volleyball vie for Class 3A Rochelle Regional championship ]

The Spartan comeback started with a Dixon service error. Sycamore (20-15) went up 24-23 thanks to a Thomas kill, a block by Norah Chami and a couple of Dixon errors.

A service error on the Spartans tied things at 24, but a kill by Ava Wente-Argo put the Spartans back up top and an errant Dixon attack clinched the victory.

“I tell people we’re the comeback kids,” Sycamore coach Jennifer Charles said. “Our biggest thing was we need to stay composed. Our first set wasn’t that good. We were frazzled. A lot of these girls have not played in the postseason. The fact they were able to come back and play cool and calm and together as a team, I couldn’t be happier.”

A senior-rich Sycamore team won a regional crown in 2023, but an inexperienced Spartan team lost in the first round of the postseason last year to Burlington Central.

Dixon won a regional last year and returned a lot of talent from that club.

“I think we were a little shocked they didn’t just lie down,” Dixon coach Bunyan Cocar said. “They just kept fighting, fighting, fighting and we thought if we just put some pressure on them they’d just go away. And they didn’t go away.”

No team led by more than three points in the final set. There were 15 ties, including at every point between 12 and 20.

The Duchesses seemed to go up 19-17, but a kill attempt by Rayven Mowery that appeared in was ruled out, tying things up at 18 instead. Dixon did go back up 20-19 on a Sycamore passing error, but that was its last lead of the night.

“The first set, we come out very focused, don’t miss too many serves,” Cocar said. “Second set, we missed too many serves, gave them some confidence and they started swinging hard. And then it was just a slugfest in the third and the ball didn’t bounce our way. We thought we got some kills that weren’t called. But credit Sycamore, they played a heck of a game.”

Sycamore scored four straight, two on kills by Thomas and two on aces by Chami. Dixon tied it 23 after back-to-back kills by Morgan Hargrave and one by Izzy Queckboerner.

But another Thomas kill pushed the lead to 24-23 then the Spartans were able to close out the win.

Thomas said the Spartans didn’t want an early exit again this year. And Charles said Thomas was very motivated to make sure it didn’t happen.

“She wanted it so bad from last year. She felt like she didn’t play well in the postseason,” Charles said. “She was determined to get this win. She knew she had to help her team out as much as she could.”

The No. 3 Spartans advance to the La Salle-Peru sectional, facing No. 5 Washington at 7 p.m. Tuesday. The winner faces either No. 1 Morris or No. 2 La Salle-Peru, both Interstate 8 foes the Spartans split the regular-season series with.

Cocar said he was pleased with the season, which included not just 20 wins but a Big Northern Conference title.

“It’s been a fun ride with them and I’m sad to see the season end,” Cocar said. “We wanted to go a little deeper. It was a heck of a ride and we’re glad to do it together.”