Comeback victories say a lot about a team’s will to win.

In danger of having to play a deciding fifth game, Jim Thorpe’s volleyball team rallied at the end of the fourth game to defeat Pottsville 17-25, 25-17, 25-19, 27-25.

The victory pits the fourth-seeded Olympians (17-2) against Pine Grove at Martz Hall tonight in the semifinals of the Schuylkill League Tournament.

With Pottsville - the fifth seed - leading 24-22 in the fourth game and needing just one more point to send the match into a winner-take-all tie breaker, Thorpe scored five of the last six points to win the match.

After Thorpe’s Brianna Snisky broke the Tide’s service with a kill to bring her team within one, junior Maggy Hallihan tied the game at 24 with an ace. Thorpe then led 25-24, but Pottsville knotted the score at 25. Senior Leah Figura then served the final two points for Thorpe for a match-clinching 27-25 win.

The first game was a back-and-forth affair early in the contest.

Pottsville managed to knock down several points in the open space between Thorpe’s front and back lines. With the game tied 6-6, the Tide posted five straight points with the service coming from junior hitter Hanna Forbes. Two straight aces by Lainey Dusel increased Pottsville’s lead to 14-7.

Three consecutive aces by Snisky closed the gap to 14-11 for the Olympians, but the Tide would never relinquish the lead on their way to a solid 25-17 victory.

Jim Thorpe coach Chris Fallabel made some tactical adjustments after his team’s opening loss to improve its chemistry.

“We made nine errors in that game, so I put together what I thought would be more favorable matchups for us going into the second game,” said Fallabel.

His strategy clicked immediately, as the Olympians raced off to 8-0 and 14-2 leads in the second set.

Snisky was strong at the net with blocks, and outside hitter Brooke Mitzen added some smashing kill shots.

The Tide did manage a rally, scoring four straight points, but the closest they could come was an eight-point deficit in losing by a 25-17 score.

Game three was close throughout. Pottsville’s four-point run tied the game at nine, and then one point separated the teams until Thorpe scored six of the next eight points for a 15-11 lead.

Hallihan’s two aces led the rally that opened up a seven-point spread at 21-14, and eventually to a final 25-19 score in favor of the Olympians.

In the fourth game, Jim Thorpe took an early lead at 9-6, before Pottsville rallied to tie the game at 13. The team’s exchanged leads until Olympian junior Priscilla Patton began to assert herself with some strong moves at the net. Maggie Brennan’s kill tied the game at 19, and Lizzy Martinko’s serves sparked the Tide to the next three points and a 22-19 advantage.

Thorpe would then rally to tie at 22, but Pottsville scored the next two points and led 24-22, needing just one more point to force a fifth game. Snisky started the match-winning rally with a kill. Down one, Hallihan served an ace to tie it at 24 all. The teams then exchanged points for a tie at 25, setting the stage for Figura to serve the game- and match-winning final two points.

Fallabel was visibly proud of the relentless effort his team provided to come back and win the fourth and deciding game.

“Pottsville played a fantastic match, but our team showed a hell of a fight at the end when they could have forced us into a tie breaker,” he said.

The Olympians were led by Mitzen with 11 kills and 10 digs. Snisky added five kills, six blocks and six aces.

SETTING IT UP ... Halliahan contributed 22 assists in the match and added five aces and 10 digs.

LIFTING IT UP ... Keeping the ball in play is a huge asset to winning volleyball games. Thorpe’s junior libero Olivia Calcano was a rock from her back line defensive position, as she contributed 25 digs in the match, with several coming from flat out dives onto the floor to keep the ball in the air.