POTTSVILLE - Talk about high wire acts.

The one the Panther Valley volleyball team was balancing on was tenuous at best.

The Panthers could see their chances of playing for a Schuylkill Girls’ Volleyball League championship falling faster than a shooting star. Their hopes were dim at best after dropping the first two games of a best-of-five semifinal matchup with Nativity.

But never underestimate the will to win.

In a match that might be remembered for eons in the annals of sport at Panther Valley volleyball history, Panther Valley staged a stunning rally to shock the Green Wave on Tuesday at Martz Hall, 22-25, 26-28, 25-22, 25-20,15-13.

Although the Panthers had plenty of moments when it appeared they were about to fall off the wire, Riley McArdle wasn’t buying into the loss. Nor was Caroline Breslin, the team’s libero. The pair did all they could to will PV to a victory.

Of course, it wasn’t those two alone who figured out how to win, but they just seemed to be at the forefront.

McArdle moved from outside hitter to the middle and was all over the court, putting away balls from the left side of the net as well as the right.

Breslin was super-intense, hitting the floor time after time to come up with a whopping 40 digs.

“We play five sets for a reason,” McArdle, who finished the night with 22 kills, 10 aces and 10 digs. “There was no quit when we fell behind. I tried to do anything I could to help the team, so I knew I had to be all over the place.

“It was a great game. We all pulled together to work it out.”

Breslin was focused, and said defense was the key.

“We needed to stay together, (after we fell behind) and we did that,” she said. “I just tried to do my best to get any ball I could.”

After the Green Wave sauntered out to a commanding lead after the first two sets, they couldn’t seal the deal.

“We just couldn’t finish it off,” said Nativity coach Jen Daubert. “After winning the first two sets, we were leading in the third set 8-3 and couldn’t put them away. That’s where it all started (to go wrong).”

The Panthers started to roll and kicked in their confidence at that juncture, erasing the early Nativity lead with a 13-3 run. Meanwhile, Nativity seemed to come unglued with eight unforced errors in the third set. The Panthers were leading 24-22 when McArdle slammed the door with a flush on a kill.

Panther Valley backed up that win with a 25-20 victory in the fourth set as McArdle once again led the way.

“After we fell behind 2-0, I said to our team the only way we could reverse things is to have confidence in ourselves,” said Panther Valley coach Emilee Baker.

The Panthers obviously heeded her advice in rallying to tie the match and force a deciding fifth set.

There were ties at 5, 7, 9 and 12 in the 15-point do-or-die set.

McArdle asserted herself once again for the Panthers as she posted four more kills, including one to tie the score at 12-12. Nativity had back-to-back unforced errors to put the Panthers on the brink of victory (14-12). But the Wave got a huge play from 6-3 middle hitter Arieanna Sherman to close to within a point.

With McArdle in serve, junior Natalie Vermillion sent the Panthers into a frenzy with the game’s biggest kill, sending her team into the league championship game against undefeated Pottsville.

Point! Set! Match!

CHAMPIONSHIP NIGHT ... Panther Valley will meet undefeated Pottsville (20-0) on Thursday at 7 p.m. at Martz Hall for the league title.

GRUELING NIGHT ... It took two-and-a-half hours to settle the match. Baker said her team is well-conditioned and it showed, especially in the fifth set.

HOW TO SURVIVE … Panther Valley never looked disoriented, which can often happen when a team falls behind. Instead, it regrouped the way all the great teams do.

MORE STATS ... In addition to McArdle and Breslin, the Panthers also got a strong performance from standout sophomore Morgan Orsulak, who had three aces, eight kills and 21 assists.

JUST ONE LOSS … Panther Valley moved its record to 19-1, with the lone setback coming at the hands of perennial power Holy Redeemer from District 2.

TOP RANKED …. Panther Valley is currently the No. 1 seed in District 11 Class 2A, while Nativity is tops in Class 1A.