Morris came into Sellett Gymnasium on Thursday looking to turn the tables on a close, two-set loss at home to La Salle-Peru and stay in contention for an Interstate 8 Conference championship.

Mission accomplished. Morris came away with a 25-23, 25-23, hard-fought victory over the Cavaliers.

Both teams came out of the gate firing. The Cavs got a big hit on the first point from Kelsey Frederick and an ace from Emma Jereb for the early 2-0 lead.

Morris came right back with a pair of points that tied the game as Hannah Linn got a nice set from Alexis Williams, along with an ace from Alyssa Jepson, but then had a service error for the sideout.

One of the big hitters on the night for Morris was Rosemary Misener, who once again tied the early score at three with a shot that went off the Cavs’ defenders. Aubrey Duttlinger came out blasting shots left and right, and her back-to-back kills gave L-P the edge again at 6-4.

Morris put together a 5-0 run that was led by a touch shot from Tessa Shannon, then a block from Lily Hansen and a kill from Linn gave Morris a 12-10 advantage.

Frederick and Drew Depenbrock teamed up for the block that ended the Morris run. With Morris leading 13-11, L-P went on a 4-0 run for a 15-13 lead that Morris flipped to its own 18-16 advantage.

“We had a lot of girls that were hitting tonight,” Morris coach Scott Howell said. “But I’ll tell you what, Alexis Williams had a tremendous night setting things up and making the hits that much easier.”

Morris was later whistled on back-to-back plays for double-hits that briefly gave L-P the lead, 21-20. But Morris responded immediately. Shannon hit a shot down the line, and a net violation by the Cavs allowed Morris to regain the lead 22-21. Linn added to that with a kill.

An L-P service error ultimately gave Morris the first set 25-23.

In the second set, Duttlinger picked up a kill, and Frederick followed with an ace to put L-P ahead 5-3. The lead was extended to 11-5 with back-to-back blocks from Maggie Boudreau and Depenbrock, but Morris turned the tide, going on a 9-0 run for a 16-13 lead.

A net violation by Shannon ended the run, but Hansen hit a touch shot that found a hole in the Cavs’ defense.

Duttlinger kills trimmed the deficit to 21-19 Morris. After another long rally with big hits and digs on both sides, a shot from Karmen Piano landed long, and then a kill from Hansen made it 24-22 Morris.

L-P stayed alive briefly, but Hansen hit a huge cross-court shot to give Morris the 25-23 second-set victory and the match.

“I thought it was a well-played match,” L-P coach Mark Haberkorn said. “Both teams made some nice digs and rallies, and in the end they were able to make a few more than we were able to.”

Morris was led by 13 digs from Jepson and 11 from Pfeifer, while Williams had 25 assists, and Linn had 10 kills.

L-P was led by 15 kills from Duttlinger, along with 11 digs from Piano. Jereb and Aubrey Urbanski each had 13 assists.