The match couldn’t have proven any more vital in the race for the Hoosier Hills Conference title.

Both the Seymour and New Albany volleyball teams entered Thursday’s tilt with 3-2 HHC records, trailing Columbus East (4-1) and Floyd Central (4-0).

Keeping it short: The team that emerged victorious would keep its hopes of securing the crown alive.

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With their backs against the wall, Seymour’s squad came through with an epic comeback in the Lloyd E. Scott Gymnasium.

The Owls (17-12) surmounted a 2-0 deficit to post a 22-25, 21-25, 25-13, 25-21, 15-8 win over the Bulldogs on Thursday.

Seymour coach Angie Lucas said it was a huge win for the team.

“We talked about (how important the match was) last night in practice,” she said. “You just can’t count us out. We keep fighting, and we keep working hard. The girls, even though I get frustrated with them sometimes, they continue to work hard. At the end tonight, it was such a great feeling to pull this one out on our home floor.”

In the opening set, the teams tied five times before the Bulldogs gained some separation at 20-16. After a kill by Chloe Criswell cut the deficit to three, the Bulldogs won four of the next five points to go up 24-20 before sealing the set at 25-22.

The Owls took an early 9-5 run before the Bulldogs went on a 7-0 run to go up by three points to start the second set. Seymour kept it within four points the remainder of the way but could never get enough of a streak going to take the lead. Down 24-21, a service error sunk the Owls as they went down 2-0.

The Owls then turned up the intensity on their serves, and it paid off.

Seymour gained some momentum at the start the third set, using a 5-0 run to lead 10-5 and force a Bulldogs timeout. The Owls built the lead to 18-10 after a kill by Jessica Blevins and never looked back.

Back-to-back hits by Blevins closed the set at 25-13.

“We told them they needed to start being more aggressive in their serving,” Lucas said. “Serving is supposed to be one of our strengths, and we didn’t serve well in sets one and two. We got more aggressive in set three, and then (New Albany) had more trouble passing. New Albany is a great team.”

The momentum in the third set transferred to the start of the fourth for the Owls, as they jumped to a 5-1 lead in part of some strong serving by Hayley Harpe. The Bulldogs climbed back, tying the game at 12, but after a pair of timeouts, the Owls were able to string together a 5-0 run to lead 19-14.

The semi-comfortable Seymour lead didn’t last long, as the Bulldogs came back to tie it at 21. However, the Owls settled down, and took the next four points — capped by a kill by Blevins — to tie the match at two sets each.

In the fifth, the Owls used strong serving to take an 8-1 lead. The closest the Bulldogs got the rest of the way was 11-6 before Seymour closed it at 15-8.

Blevins led the Owls with 21 of the team’s 47 total kills. Makenna Fee finished with 36 assists and three aces, and Harpe had 22 digs to top Seymour.

Lucas said she was proud of the way her kids came back.

“I am thrilled to death we got this,” Lucas said.