The Ottawa volleyball team found itself down a set to Pontiac in Tuesday’s match at Kingman Gymnasium.

But from there the Pirates (3-5-2) rolled to a second set victory, and then down seven points late in the third set, rallied for 12 of the final 15 points to record a thrilling 17-25, 25-13, 27-25 triumph over the Indians (7-3) in front of a boisterous crowd.

“We not only needed a win, but a win like this one,” Ottawa coach Kristina Kore said. “We knew Pontiac was going to be a tough matchup, and they were.

“It’s been a little bit of a rollercoaster ride so far for us this season but tonight showed what we are capable of. I’ve had confidence in this group from Day 1 – and I think they played with that confidence for much of the match, especially in the final few points of that third set.”

Pontiac jumped to leads of 8-3, 15-9 and 21-14 to take the opening set.

After the teams traded points early in the second set, Ottawa pulled away with solid serving runs by Belle Markey and Kendall Biba, with Bella Knoll recording five of her 11 kills.

“We focused a lot in practice (on Monday) finding spots to hit,” Knoll said. “The last few matches we’ve kind of been in robot mode hitting-wise, just hitting to where the scouting report tells us to. I feel like in the final two sets tonight we were all thinking about options and then making decisions based on the situation.

“We know we have talent, so it was nice to see us really show it off tonight. We brought the energy and saw what we are capable of.”

The visitors held a 12-6 lead in the third set, but a pair of aces by Jordyn Allen and two kills and a block by Markey closed the gap to 12-11.

However, Pontiac again pulled away, taking a 23-17 lead on one of Trinity Cheek’s match-high 14 kills.

A sideout brought Allen back to the service line. Her fifth ace of the night and two kills each from Markey and Emma Molina tied things at 23-all.

“Jordyn did a phenomenal job in that moment,” Kore said. “She kept them off balance and out of system.”

From there, two kills and a block by Markey preceded a match-point kill by Libby Muffler to complete the comeback.

Markey finished with 13 kills, including nine in the third set, two blocks and six points. Molina had seven kills, Ashlynn Ganiere four kills and 12 assists, and Muffler three kills. Allen posted 15 service points and 20 digs, Biba seven points, two aces and 10 digs.

“It finally all came together for us tonight,” Markey said. “We found the standard of how we want to play in the final two sets. I think this showed all of us the way we can play and compete if we all do our jobs the best we can.

“We’ve struggled with the mental side of the game when things get tight this season, but tonight everyone stayed calm and just forgot about the last point if it didn’t go our way. This was our best match of the season.”

Ottawa is off until Saturday when it plays at the Byron Tournament.