Junior Maya Shabir (15 kills) and senior Kayla Principato (14) led the offense for South Side, which trailed 24-21 and 25-24 in the fourth set before rallying. “We had to dig down really deep and take it one point at a time,” Scalice said. With Heidenfelder serving, Principato cut the deficit to 24-22 with one of her patented left-handed smashes. Sophomore Alexandra Kosakoff served two points to tie it, but a Steiner kill regained the lead for Long Beach. A huge dig by junior libero Meghan Johnke (no errors on 28 serve receives, 10 digs) kept the Lady Cyclones’ season alive, and they eventually deadlocked the match on junior Ashley DeTullio’s serve.

“We were so close we could taste it,” Rehnback said. “At the same time we knew South Side wasn’t going to quit. The way they came back after that first set…it just wasn’t going to be easy.”