Lady Cougars volleyball coach Erwin Harrell said he could count on one hand the number of times he’s seen his team come back from 0-2 to win a match

Harrell can add Thursday’s game against Community Christian School to that short list.

After a 25-16 loss followed by a close 25-22 loss, the Lady Cougars pulled together and defeated the Chargers in the next three sets 25-13, 25-16 and 15-10 for the match win. The Lady Cougars improved to 3-0 overall (1-0 GISA Region 2).

“You don’t come back many times from 0-2,” Harrell said. “I’m glad we did it so we will be able to point to it later in the season and say we’re never out of it. That’s why you play best out of five.”

Kelsey Harrell led the team with 17 kills, with Kaitlyn Holcombe right behind her with nine.

Lindsey Duke held a 100 percent serve percentage on 22 serves throughout the match. Freshman Abigail Mills was at 94 percent with 15 of 16 serves.

Mills and Sarah Castoro both had seven aces, and Castoro racked up 15 digs.

Harrell said he thought his team looked tight the first two sets. After they began to loosen up and trust each other, the points climbed higher and the defense held stronger.

“They played so tight at first,” Harrell said. “Volleyball is a game of mistakes. You’re going to make mistakes, and when you make one you have to go to the next play and not worry about the mistake you just made. We were very tight there in the beginning and we were making mistakes. Our lips were poked out a little bit. When we loosened up, I think we played the kind of ball we are capable of playing.”

The Lady Cougars will be able to look back at this win as motivation for trust and facing adversity, Harrell said.

The varsity Lady Cougars played Memorial Day School Friday and return to action next Tuesday to play Sherwood Academy in Albany.