PLANO — The Rochelle varsity volleyball team needed one more point to defeat Plano in nonconference action Tuesday evening, but the Lady Reapers just wouldn’t go away.

Leading 24-20 in the third set after splitting the first two sets with Plano (21-25, 25-20), the Lady Hubs fought hard to earn one final kill shot against the Lady Reapers. Plano’s scrappy back row wanted no part of losing, however, and after surviving a series of tough rallies with several quality digs, the Lady Reapers battled back to turn the tables on Rochelle and ultimately win the third set 29-27 to take the match.

The Lady Hubs dropped to 3-4-1 overall with the loss, and the Rochelle squad will look to rebound with a home match against Stillman Valley on Thursday at 6 p.m.

“They had a server, who had our number, to be their last server over the end of the third set,” head coach Molly Sly said. “I think our hitters were a little timid and I think that was the difference between us winning that game and not winning it. Having the confidence to keep swinging, even when its game point, is something we’ll be working on in practice.”

Plano stunned Rochelle out of the gate, going up 6-0 over the Lady Hubs in the first set before Sly called a timeout to bring the girls back together. Rochelle slowly clawed its way back to even the first set at 12-12, but Plano then went on an 11-5 run to lead 23-17. Rochelle forced a Lady Reaper timeout after two quick points before Plano responded by winning 2-of-4 points down the stretch.

“We needed to take care of business on our side,” Sly said. “Our passes and our sets seemed to be OK but then we would hit the ball out… We were giving them points, but once we switched things up, the game definitely changed.”

Rochelle held Plano off in the second set, with junior Maggie Duval playing a large part in the Lady Hub offense. Duval finished with nine kills, and she showcased her versatility, spending time at both right side and outside hitter. Rochelle led 15-12 before a Plano timeout, and the Lady Hubs claimed 10-of-18 points afterward to even the match at one set each.

“Maggie has no problem swinging away which was what we were hoping for at the end of the game,” Sly said. “She’s consistent and she’s able to adjust to her sets really well. She puts the ball in play which is nice to see.”

Tuesday’s tiebreaker was a back-and-forth seesaw with Rochelle leading 10-7 before the Lady Reapers forced Rochelle to call timeout up 12-11. Three straight points from the Lady Hubs caused Plano to burn a timeout, and minutes later, junior Katie Van Hise’s ace gave Rochelle a 22-17 lead.

On match point, Plano won two long rallies to cut the Rochelle lead to 24-22 and make the Lady Hubs use another timeout. The Lady Reapers then took 3-of-4 points to tie the set 25-25 as the home crowd became increasingly louder. Plano broke serve with a point to take a 28-27 lead before scoring one final point on a Rochelle error.

Senior Sarah Craven led Rochelle with 20 digs while seniors Grace Orlikowski and Emma Mehrings each added 10 digs. Mehrings and Duval combined for 20 of Rochelle’s kills, and sophomore Clare Green had 27 assists to record her third 20-plus assist match this year.

“Clare’s really stepped up and you wouldn’t tell that she’s a sophomore,” Sly said. “She mixes up our offense and she gets the ball to the hot hand which is exactly what you want a setter to do.”

The Rochelle sophomore volleyball team beat Plano 25-16, 25-16 on Tuesday to improve to 2-1 overall. The freshman volleyball team fell to 1-2 overall after falling against Dixon (17-25, 25-20, 13-15) this past Thursday and against Plano (19-25, 22-25) on Tuesday.