Maddie Wetzell and the Bureau Valley Storm had come too far not to finish the job.

Wetzell hit for two points off Mendota blockers, and sophomore Mya Shipp’s smash put the finishing touches on a 22-25, 25-19, 25-17 victory for the Storm.

“We played two really good games this week. Tonight, we weren’t there mentally and trying to fight back is something I’m proud of,” Wetzell said. “We’ve struggled with that in the past and just being able to finish the set was really nice.

“The momentum was on our side, so going into the third set we could feel a little more confident and not as rushed. We were able to use our momentum for the best.”

The win was the third in four nights for the Storm, defeating Annawan on Monday and Abingdon-Avon on Wednesday, evening their record at 11-11.

“That’s where were are. Going into the last half of the season. We (need to) set the tone ... and continue to make strides and win games,” BV coach Saige Barnett said. “As long as we keep getting better and better and playing our best volleyball at the end of October, that’s all that really matters.”

Shipp gave the Storm a 17-15 lead in Game 2 with a kill and Emma Mussche made it a 19-16 with an ace.

Errors by the Spikers sent the Storm to a 24-20 lead before Brynley Doty, another hard-hitting Storm sophomore, spiked the game-winner.

Doty continued her smashes in Game 3 with three straight kills to give the Storm an early 7-6 lead. She hit again for a 16-13 Storm lead, but Mendota’s Mariyah Elam hit for the kill and Harlow Foltnewicz hit a cross from right to left to bring the Spikers within 16-14.

Enter Wetzell, who hit for a 19-16 Storm lead, followed with another kill to make it 22-16.

“That’s what a senior captain, senior leader does. She was called on and she stepped up,” Barnett said. “She proved tonight why she’s a senior outside (hitter). She’s been through the program. She’s seen a lot, and it’s starting to pay off for her.”

Barnett, like Wetzell, was pleased to see how the Storm bounced back from the first game loss.

“It showed our ability to bounce back and face some adversity, and how we did it together. How they responded. I think that speaks for the kind of group that they are,” Barnett said.

“We start to see things go our way and control what we can control, and that’s our side of the net and how we are doing everything that volleyball takes. It’s communication factor, being fundamentally sound, being locked mentally at the serve line, and the second and third set we did that way better than the first game.”

Mendota coach Demi Salazar said the Spikers (4-15) can take away some positives from the match.

“I would have liked to have the win, but honestly they did OK,” Salazar said.

The Spikers were the comeback kids in the first game. They spotted the Storm a 7-1 lead only to use a 6-0 run to take a 10-8 lead.

BV senior Emily Wright served up two points, including an ace, for a 19-18 Storm edge, and Shipp turned a back set from setter Libby Endress into a kill for a 20-10 lead.

Elam, a first-year player with state champion high-jumping talent, had two kills and two blocks to send the Spikers to a 25-22 win.

“When Mariyah comes in, it’s a totally different game,” Salazar said.

Shipp led the Storm with 10 kills, with Doty adding nine and Endress seven. Wright ran the back row for 17 digs while Brooke Helms had 11 points with five aces and Emma Mussche had 10 points and three aces.