Down five points late in the first set of the Class 3A Galesburg Regional championship Thursday, No. 2-seeded La Salle-Peru was looking for a spark.

Senior Drew Depenbrock delivered it.

Depenbrock made a great save on an errant pass then blocked a shot on the same play. She later had back-to-back blocks to force No. 6 Geneseo to call a timeout.

“Drew did amazing tonight,” L-P senior Kelsey Frederick said. “We needed that pick me up. We needed someone on the court who could get us started and Drew did exactly that.”

Depenbrock’s blocks shifted the momentum toward the Cavaliers, who rallied to win the first set in extra points and never trailed in the second to beat the Maple Leafs 27-25, 25-20 to win the program’s 21st regional plaque under coach Mark Haberkorn and punch a ticket back to L-P for the sectional.

“It means a lot to us, especially because we wanted to go back home,” Depenbrock said. “This group of seniors, we’re like a family and being back on our court means a lot to us. I know it means a lot to Hab (Haberkorn) because we’ve worked so hard this year. We had a couple losses in a row (in October), and we didn’t let that set us back, so winning regional is a big thing for us.”

The Cavs (31-5) will play Interstate 8 Conference foe Morris (30-6) in a sectional semifinal at 6 p.m. Tuesday. L-P and Morris split the regular season series. Morris beat Sterling 21-25, 25-9, 25-22.

The other semifinal is between Sycamore, another I-8 team, which beat Dixon 13-25, 26-24, 25-23, and Washington, a 25-23, 25-23 winner over Limestone, which placed second in 3A last year and was ranked top two in state.

“It’s three teams from our conference,” Haberkorn said. “We split with Morris and Sycamore. We played everybody (but Washington). It should be a very competitive sectional. We’re expecting a battle. It’s going to be fun. I hope everybody in L-P nation comes out and supports the Cavs.”

The first set was tight early with seven ties before two aces by Katherine Barickman, a kill by Elli Barickman and a lift on L-P gave the Leafs a 14-10 lead and started their push toward a 19-14 advantage.

Depenbrock’s three blocks in four points plus a fourth later helped L-P turn the tide.

“We do these focus exercises before matches, taking deep breaths,” Depenbrock said. “Because in the game your adrenaline gets the better of you and you can get all anxious and worked up. Hab always says take a deep breath and go back to the basics. I was just thinking about practice every day and how you just put your hands up there and flick your wrist and you got it.

“I think blocks are always big in games. They’re a big impact and they get everyone’s energy up.”

Geneseo had set point but a kill by Frederick tied it at 24. After the Leafs tied it at 25, back-to-back kills by Aubrey Duttlinger.

“I think we knew in that moment we needed to just come together,” Frederick said. “When we are relaxed and play how we normally play, we play so much better. When we get down, we all get tight and all get excited. We needed to turn that nervousness into adrenaline.”

The Cavs got a kill off a block by Anna Riva to start the second set and never trailed. The Leafs did tie it eight times, but L-P responded on each occasion.

An L-P service error made it 21-20, but the Cavs ended it with a double hit on Geneseo, back-to-back kills by Duttlinger and another big block by Depenbrock.

“That was very important because they were always chasing us and we always had that lead by one point or two,” Haberkorn said. “When it got late in the match, we were able to make that run to get to 24-20 and that’s tough to overcome.”

Depenbrock was excited to finish it off with a block.

“It’s honestly a surreal feeling for me,” Depenbrock said. “I didn’t know what my impact in the regional game was going to be. This season’s been a lot of up and down for me, but it means a lot that I could do this for my team.”

Duttlinger had 12 kills, seven digs and a block for L-P, Frederick had seven kills, seven points, six digs and three blocks, Riva finished with eight points, eight digs and five kills, Emma Jereb contributed 13 digs, 11 assists and six points and Aubrey Urbanski added 12 assists and nine points.