The Hawks had swung the momentum in their favor, but BCLUW changed the course coming out of the timeout. A kill and an ace from Elizabeth Garber as part of a quick 3-point run forced Woodward-Granger to call a timeout of its own. It didn’t slow the Comets down as they pulled within one at 21-20. BCLUW finished the Hawks off with a 5-1 run to take the match in four sets 25-23, 25-23, 16-25, 25-22.

“We talked all night we knew it was going to be a battle,” Coach Garber said. “When we get that glazed face looking like, ‘Oh my gosh, I can’t believe this is happening,’ good things don’t happen. But when we remember what got us here and we go back and take care of the ball, good things happen. I felt like we did that at the end.

“I never like game five, but I really didn’t like (the thought of) game five tonight. It can just go anywhere.”

One win away from the state tournament, the Comets advance to face seventh-ranked Tri-Center in Tuesday’s regional final. BCLUW (26-11) set a school record for wins in a season with Thursday’s victory, surpassing the 25 wins the Comets accumulated in 2015.

T-R PHOTO BY ADAM RING - BCLUW junior Madi Ubben, left, makes a hit against Woodward-Granger’s Elly Polich during the Comets’ four-set win over the Hawks in the Class 2A Region 4 semifinals on Thursday in Jewell.

BCLUW knew the Hawks were more of a team-based squad with no one player to key in on like it faced on Monday in the 3-0 win against Belle Plaine, and BCLUW knew the Hawks would do everything in their power to not let the ball hit the floor. Jade Hammers led the Comets with 16 kills and Easton Swanson finished with 13 of her own.

The opening set was the tightest of the four. The biggest lead either team built was from the Comets at 17-13, but the Hawks (23-11) soared back to knot the set up at 18-all. W-G even took a 23-22 lead, but three-straight kills from Swanson closed out the first set.

Looking to swing the momentum in their favor, the Hawks went on a 4-point run early in the second set to stake a 7-3 lead. Unphased by the early deficit the Comets responded with a kill and ace from Swanson, a pair of kills from Elizabeth Garber and back-to-back blocks from Madison Ubben in the middle finished off a 9-0 run for a 12-7 lead. BCLUW widened the lead to as many as seven at 17-10 and 20-13 but allowed the Hawks to pull within one before Elizabeth shut the door on the set with a kill.

“I feel like we played with adrenaline and energy at the beginning,” Coach Garber said. “We were super fired up on the bus ride over, super fired up in the locker room. They played with great energy. We were really aggressive. I felt like by game three, that had kind of worn off. We needed to just buckle down and play. We had that little letdown.”

Other than being tied 3-all and 4-all in the third frame, the Hawks led the set throughout, pulling away with a run in the middle to push the lead from 10-9 to 15-9. BCLUW kept the set within five or six points, but it was too little too late and W-G scored the final three to send the match to the fourth set.

Hammers led the Comets with 16 kills, Swanson had 13, Ubben added nine and Garber had eight. Cate Nason chalked up 25 assists and Garber had 20 more.

Parker Scurr and Swanson led a balanced defensive effort with 14 digs apiece, while Ubben led with three blocks.

BCLUW totaled 10 aces in the match.

Comets will face off with Tri-Center in Earlham on Tuesday with the state birth on the line. The match gets underway at 7 p.m.

“These girls, they 100 percent believe it,” Coach Garber said about being the team to come out of the region’s bracket to advance to state.