Photos by Samantha Davis: The No. 7 Tracy-Milroy-Balaton volleyball team runs to mid-court and celebrates with one another after defeating No. 10 Edgerton in five sets in the Section 3A south subdivision play-in round Monday night in Tracy. Below: TMB senior defensive specialist Piper Freeburg goes in for a dig.

TRACY — Prevailing through five sets in a match that saw numerous ties and lead changes, the No. 7 Tracy-Milroy-Balaton volleyball team defeated No. 10 Edgerton in the Section 3A South subdivision play-in Monday evening, keeping its season alive. The Panthers defeated the Flying Dutchmen with an all-around team effort in sets of 25-22, 24-26, 25-22, 15-25 and 15-12.

“As a senior, this feels amazing,” TMB defensive specialist Piper Freeburg said. “Being able to go on with my team is absolutely rewarding.”

TMB fought through its errors and had shining moments in all areas of the court throughout the night, especially on the blocking and serving end. The Panthers held the lead through their final set five, and had to overcome deficits in both sets one and three.

In a winner-take-all fifth set with both team’s season on the line, TMB claimed an opening 4-1 lead as an Alli Dolan service ace got the set started.

Edgerton climbed back to tie the set at 7-7, but back-to-back kills from Braelynn Kirk put the Panthers ahead 9-7, which grew to an 11-8 edge after a Flying Dutchmen net violation.

Kills from Elsie Knott and Melaina Ankrum along with a Dolan ace bolstered TMB’s lead to 14-12, and an Edgerton hitting error gave the Panthers the win and advancement to the subsection first round.

“I think that [our fight] has been a season’s worth of lessons learned. We have had some hard knocks this season. Some of it has come from tough matches, some of it from changing different players in different positions, and some of it’s come from just having a night where nothing went our way,” TMB head coach Heather Kamrud-Rice said. “I think we really have been working towards this ending where we bring the energy to the court … Every time [in huddles], I thought, ‘These girls are ready.'”

Ankrum led TMB with 11 kills, while Kirk and Allie Adams tallied nine and seven, respectively. Ankrum and Dolan paced the offense, finishing with 14 and 12 set assists.

Defensively, Gretchen Lanoue had a team-high three blocks while Adams had two.

“[We came in] having a clear mindset, knowing that they weren’t going to throw anything at us that we haven’t seen before,” Freeburg said.

In a pivotal set three after TMB won the first and the Flying Dutchmen took the second, the Panthers’ hitting effort became more prominent that forced a string of Edgerton errors to rally back from a deficit.

Freeburg had three consecutive divings digs that led to an Ankrum kill to tie the set up 4-4 to begin.

Kamrud-Rice called a timeout to regroup the team after the Flying Dutchmen embarked on a 7-2 run to claim a 14-9 lead, which TMB responded well out of behind hits from Ankrum, Kirk and Dolan along with blocking from Lanoue to climb to an 18-14 deficit.

“Blocking is something that we’ve put a lot of emphasis on throughout the season … Our block really came together tonight,” Kamrud-Rice said. “In order to give our offense the best chance we have got to have some blocking, especially in this section … All of your defense starts behind the block. Your block has to take up part of the court, then the rest of your defense can assemble around that. If you can defend, then you get to play offense.”

A kill from Knott brought the Panthers within 3 points, down 21-18, as Edgerton called a reset.

A Kirk kill, an assisted block by Lanoue and Knott and an Edgerton hitting error tied the set up at 21, and a service ace from Freeburg gave TMB the 22-21 lead.

The Panthers secured the come-from-behind victory after a Flying Dutchmen hitting error and a pair of Kirk kills.

TMB won the first set after rallying back from a 6-1 deficit to start the night. A kill from Ankrum and consecutive blocks from Dolan and Izabella Martinez, along with an ace from Freeburg tied the set at 15-15.

“The serving was really good,” Kamrud-Rice said. “It’s gotten more consistent, and without losing that aggressive edge, so that’s really important.”

Blocks from Ankrum and Martinez eventually helped TMB build a 2-point advantage, 21-19.

Hanging on with 2 points to go, a service ace from Ankrum and a Kirk hard kill off the left side secured TMB’s first-set victory.

“We started out that first set [down a couple points], and there are, I think earlier in the season, where that might have really damaged us. This time, they knew they had to work hard to come back from it, but they knew they had it in them,” Kamrud-Rice said. “They were going to pull together and keep fighting.”

TMB had to consistently work to find answers to Edgerton senior Reese Vande Griend, who had 20 kills alone by the end of the third set. She finished with 31 kills.

“She [Vande Griend] was a handful. She really could swing at the ball, hitting right behind the 10-foot line and hitting around the block,” Kamrud-Rice said. “They [TMB] have to be really proud of overcoming an offense that had that much power.”

Edgerton and TMB fought off one another throughout the second set as well, but Edgerton ultimately took the win following a pair of late errors on the Panthers’ behalf.

The Flying Dutchmen controlled the entirety of the fourth set, starting on a 7-0 lead and withheld TMB from taking the lead.

TMB was strong from the service line throughout the night. Kirk and Ankrum finished with three each, while Martinez had two and Dolan and Freeburg had one each.

“Definitely sticking together as a team and not going off on our own separate islands [helped us],” Freeburg said. “Our offense adjusted well, and so did our blocks. Everybody tried very hard tonight, and we definitely showed that we wanted this.”

The Panthers and Flying Dutchmen had not met in the regular season, marking the first time the two have met this year.

TMB entered the postseason 9-19 overall, winning its last two matches of the regular season over Class 3A Winona in two sets at an Apple Valley weekend tournament, and over Yellow Medicine East 3-1 last Tuesday. Edgerton came in with a 5-18 overall record.

With the win, TMB (10-19) next plays No. 2 Westbrook-Walnut Grove (19-10) on Friday at 7 p.m. in Westbrook in the Section 3A south subsection first round.