After dropping two of the first three sets, the Red Storm managed to come from behind to pull out a 3-2 victory over their non-league foes. Saranac Lake’s head coach, Megan Czadzeck, said her team started a little rusty.

“We tried out something different. We tried a 6-2 (rotation) and it’s just something that we’re not used to yet. We’re still going to work on that. I have two great setters, so it’s frustrating not to use both of them.”

After narrowly dropping the first game 22-25, Saranac Lake earned a 25-10 victory. However, Tupper Lake turned it around in the third with a 25-11 win. The Red Storm triumphed in the fourth with another 25-10 score, before securing the match with a 15-8 fifth set score.

“We were able to pull it together after that,” Czadzeck said. “We need some of our own mistakes tonight, but I think they figured it out. In the huddles, they were great. They were talking to each other, making sure that they knew where the open spots were, talking about playing smart, running plays and things like that.”

Saranac Lake’s Kasey Clark makes a play on the ball during Tuesday’s match against Tupper Lake. (Enterprise photo — Parker O’Brien)

Tupper Lake’s head coach, Courtney Bennett, said her team has been playing really hard and playing some really great volleyball, but this match wasn’t their best showing.

“We played (on Monday), and we have two more games after this, this week, so we have a long week ahead of us,” she said. “So I think that our energy was inconsistent; I think you could see that in the scores. But overall, we’re doing some really great things, working on adjusting the fly and we have some pieces that are coming and falling into place for us, so I’m happy. It just stinks to fall on the wrong side of the win there.”

While both teams had some inconsistent play, Saranac Lake did enough in the final two sets to prevail. Czadzeck was proud of how her team dug itself out of a hole.

“They definitely showed tonight that they can they can pull it together and they need to,” Czadzeck said. “I don’t know (why, but) the first set is always kind of hard for us, it’s like a warm-up. Then after that, we really show what we can do.”

Lexie Donaldson and Gracen Foster paced Saranac Lake defensively, combining for 45 digs to keep the ball in play throughout the match. Foster also added 11 kills and four aces, and Donaldson chipped in with three assists, two aces and two kills.

Tupper Lake’s Payton Stevens makes a play on the ball during Tuesday’s match against Saranac Lake. (Enterprise photo — Parker O’Brien)

Sophie Czadzeck also had a huge night for the Red Storm, recording a whopping 33 assists. Sophie also had seven aces, seven digs and four kills.

On the other side, Isabela Verde led the Lumberjacks from the service line, recording nine aces. She also added four kills, two digs and one assist.

Tupper Lake’s Lacey Pickering and Lacey Tarbox had standout performances, as well. Pickering had nine assists, four digs and one kill. Tarbox chipped in with seven kills and two digs.

While the Lumberjacks are now 1-6 overall, most of their losses have come against bigger Section X schools like Canton and Potsdam. Tupper Lake scrimmaged the Red Storm earlier this season, and Bennett said her team has massively improved since then.

“It was a completely different game (on Tuesday),” she said. “So I’m proud of the girls and I’m proud of the work that they’ve put in, and (Saranac Lake is) a great team. They have some great players and I thought we matched them at times and then I thought we were better, but we really struggled other times. So it does feel good to come in here and play them hard.”

With the win, Saranac Lake improved to 5-1 overall and has won three straight contests, including its last two matches by identical 3-0 scores over Northeastern Clinton and Saranac Central. Czadzeck said her team is pushing so hard to keep this hot streak going.

“It’s kind of amazing, it speaks to you how athletic they are because we only have three seniors this year,” coach Czadzeck said. “Half of my team are freshmen and sophomores. And the older girls have really stepped up, and really coached the younger girls, and made them A. Comfortable being on a team and B. Knowing what they’re doing and feeling confident out there.”

Saranac Lake will travel to Ellenburg for a matchup against the Northern Adirondack Bobcats (1-6 overall) at 6 p.m. today.

The Lumberjacks were slated to take on the Canton Golden Bears on the road on Wednesday. The team will next travel to Star Lake to face the Clifton-Fine Eagles at 6 p.m. on Friday.

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Individual stats

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SL — Lyndsee Reardon 2 assists, 1 dig; Sophie Czadzeck 7 aces, 4 kills, 33 assists, 7 digs; Mackenzie Crane 9 kills, 1 dig, 1 block; Rori Chenaille-Schenk 4 digs; Melody Costigan 3 digs; Lexie Donaldson 2 aces, 2 kills, 3 assists, 25 digs; Sophia McBride 2 aces, 1 kill, 6 digs; Gracen Foster 4 aces, 11 kills, 20 digs; Lilly Kipping 1 ace, 1 kill, 1 dig, Trinity Martelle 1 kill, 2 digs; Addy Foster 6 aces, 6 kills, 1 assist, 5 digs; Kasey Clark 11 kills, 9 digs.

TL — Lacey Pickering 4 digs, 9 assists, 1 kill; Isabela Verde 9 aces, 2 digs, 1 assist, 4 kills; Payton Stevens 1 ace, 2 digs; Maddison Arey 1 kill; Lacey Tarbox 2 digs, 7 kills; Rena Reandeau 3 kills; Kelli Opdyke 1 dig.