As match point came her way, teed up perfectly by setter Addi Smith from the other end of the net, Prairie Ridge outside hitter Adeline Grider had victory on her mind.

The 6-foot junior soared, ponytail flying, and ripped a right-handed attack that bounced hard off the floor, sending a pack of her Wolves teammates in her direction to celebrate. Grider’s 17th kill sent Prairie Ridge into the Class 3A Carmel Sectional final thanks to a 22-25, 25-21, 25-20 win over Grayslake Central in Tuesday night’s second semifinal in Mundelein.

“Leading up to [the last kill], I was like, ‘I’m going to get this point for my team. I’m going to put the ball down, and that’s how we’re going to end it,’ ” Grider said.

“Addi Smith,” Grider added of her setter, “she’s amazing.”

The Wolves’ come-from-behind win earned them a match with Carmel (28-10), which outlasted Crystal Lake Central 25-12, 16-25, 25-18. The championship match will be played at 6 p.m. Thursday.

“It was super gritty,” Prairie Ridge coach Leah Groat said of her players’ effort. “They played really, really tough, especially when we were down at one point [16-12] in the second set and I called a timeout. They were mentally tough too. They never checked out. They were prepared to fight.

“We haven’t been in a ton of situations like that all season so, especially in the playoffs, it was awesome that they were able to do that.”

Prairie Ridge (30-7) scored six of the last eight points in the second set after Grayslake Central (21-16) pulled even at 19-all. Kills by Ava Bell and Grider and Lauren Bruce’s ace helped the Wolves force a third set.

“In the huddle, we were like, ‘OK, now it’s time to lock in, and we need to turn this up,’ ” Grider said. “We were like, ‘We can’t wait for anybody to step up, so it has to be you.’ That’s what Coach Groat was saying. ... We all stepped up.”

Abby Smith added 10 kills for Prairie Ridge, while her twin, Addi, delivered 30 assists. Tegan Vrbancic led the Wolves’ defensive effort with 16 kills. Grider had 10 digs, while Kaelin Bacak and Addi Smith each totaled eight.

Ella LaPorte had 11 kills for Grayslake Central (24-12), which led most of the opening set. Prairie Ridge pulled even at 18-all, but Grayslake Central prevailed when Brooke Gulley dinked a kill over a block for the winner.

In the first semifinal, Carmel got 14 kills from Scarlett Olszowka, who slammed the match winner. Brailyn Albanese added seven kills, and Emma Faulstick had 13 digs. Liv Johnson finished with four blocks, three kills and an ace. Suzy Trznadel and libero Beca Arreola each served three aces.

“Game one, we had a ton of energy and established momentum early,” Carmel coach David Pazely said. “We went on runs of four, five, six points all throughout that first set. But [Crystal Lake Central] responded. You don’t get to a sectional semi if you don’t have the talent. Clearly, they do, and they bounced back.”

Once Central settled in, the Tigers played more confidently, jumping out to an 11-5 lead and extending it to 20-7, before Carmel scored nine of the next 10 points to pull to within 21-16.

“I think they were a little shellshocked in set one,” Tigers coach Amy Johnson said. “We’ve never really seen a crowd like this all year. Amazing crowd. Half of our girls went from playing middle school volleyball last year to this. I’m just so proud of how we rebounded in that second set.”

In the final set, Central cut its gap to 20-15 on a block by Emily Mazza, but Albanese answered with a kill. The Carmel sophomore drove another one through a block, and the Tigers couldn’t answer.

“We were able to step into the third with confidence,” Pazely said. “Even though we went down early [multiple two-point deficits], we kept it close, and that was the difference. We knew if we kept pushing, pushing, pushing, we’d start to string those points together.”

Alexis Hadeler had nine kills and 17 digs for Crystal Lake Central (21-16), which spotted Carmel an 11-4 lead in the first set before rallying in the second with its season on the line.

“I think we really placed the ball where we were wanting to place it in the second set,” Hadeler said. “I think there were a lot of things that went well in the first set, though. We obviously played our hearts out in the second set and did exactly what we wanted to do.”

Mazza provided three blocks, and libero Tessa Popp had 13 digs. Freshman Clara Dobbertin finished with 11 kills and 12 digs.

“I think we went in with our mentality of just going after it, being aggressive and having confidence,” Mazza said. “We knew this was going to be a tough match. We just didn’t live up to the expectations that we had for ourselves.”

“We lost our [team] mentality in the third set,” Popp said. “We have a mindset of not letting [the opponent] get on a run, and I think we just let go of that. The more times [Carmel] went on a run, the harder it was to come back.”