They say it can be difficult to defeat a team three times in the same season.

How about four?

That was the task the No. 7-seeded Earlville volleyball team faced in Monday’s Class 1A Somonauk Regional quarterfinal match against No. 10-seeded Leland.

The Red Raiders (21-12) came into the match having topped the Panthers three times this season and two of those contests going to three sets.

Leland (11-14) scored nine of the final 12 points to take the open set, but Earlville rebounded to take the final two and advanced with a 22-25, 25-20, 25-10 victory.

“This time of year, it’s do or die, and you can’t come out and play the way we did the first set,” Earlville coach Tonya Scherer said. “We came out flat and Leland was playing great defense. It was a back and forth set that no one could pull away in until they did. I took a time out when they went up (21-20) and talked about we had to make a push, but it just didn’t happen.”

Earlville will now play No. 2-seeded Aurora Christian in the first of two semifinals on Wednesday at 6 p.m. The Eagles defeated Forreston 25-12, 25-21 in the night opening match.

Earlville held a 19-16 advantage in the opening set, but a five-point service run by Tinley Wold, a kill by Macey Kinney, and a set point ace by Emma Elder put the Panthers up a set.

The Red Raiders stormed out to leads of 7-0, 12-3, and 17-8 in the second set, with a side out kill by Audrey Scherer handing the ball to Jacey Helgesen who served up six straight points for the early lead. Leland closed to within 24-19 before a block by Earlville’s Kiley Franzese closed out the set.

“We hit the reset button before the second set and talked about starting the second set with more energy,” Scherer said. “Then Jacey makes seven really great serves in a row, and our hitters were swinging aggressively and found some openings.”

Earlville used a seven-point burst by Addison Scherer to push to a 18-4 lead in the third set and Payton Actis added a pair of aces after that to help close out the match.

The Red Raiders were led by Jacey Helgesen (11 points, an ace, 13 digs), Addie Scherer (nine points, an ace), Jessie Miller (three blocks), Payton Actis (18 assists), Bailey Miller (14 kills, 15 digs) and Audrey Scherer (10 kills).

“The last two sets we played much better defense; we were moving instead of standing around; and we took much smarter swings,” coach Scherer said. “We cleaned up the hitting errors we were making in the first set, and our tips were a little flatter and more effective.”