It looked like the match was going to a fourth set.

The Pine Bush Bushmen already had a two-set lead over Port Jervis but were trailed the third by about five points before starting the long march back and closed to three points when Isabella Santiago took to the service line.

She never left as the Bushmen scored six straight points to take the set and a 3-0 win over Port Jervis in a non-league volleyball match on Thursday at Pine Bush High School.

“I loved everyone’s energy at the end,” Santiago said. “We really game together and we all have a really good bond. We all really love each other, and everyone gets along, and I think that’s what made today happen.”

Down by three points, 21-18, Port Jervis made two straight hitting errors, pulling the Bushmen to within a point. However, a disputed call on Santiago’s next serve, which was called an ace, tied the set and forced Port Jervis to take a timeout.

The timeout didn’t stop the Bushmen’s momentum.

Three hitting errors by Port Jervis and a kill by Pine Bush’s Sade Christophe ended the match with a 25-21 win in the third set.

“I feel like we did great,” senior Autumn Gove said. “I think everyone came together as a team, especially after losing so many seniors last year. We really built some great chemistry this year, and we played really well together as a team. I think everyone had great communication and everyone worked together well.”

The first two sets went much more smoothly for the Bushmen as they posted victories of 25-16 and 25-20.

“They were good,” Pine bush coach Melyssa Amelio said. “They shook off all the dust.”

The Bushmen lost a lot of seniors from last year’s team, but also have eight seniors on this year’s roster, including Gove and Santiago. They also have two freshmen – Alexia Fontana and Layla Vitale.

“We watch during tryouts and you can see even though they’re younger they’re at a (high) place,” Amelio said.

“It’s not going to help them (to stay at JV), so we say, ‘listen, we’re going to take you up. We don’t know how much you’re going to play, but practicing is good. But the ones I took up, they ended up playing.”

The Bushmen are on a mission to reclaim their place at the top of Section 9 Class AAA after losing their crown last season to the neighboring Valley Central Vikings

The Bushmen, who saw their long sectional championship streak end in 2024, took a 2-0 lead over the Vikings during last year’s Section 9 championship match before losing the next three sets.

“That hurt a lot,” Santiago said. “That’s why we’re really coming for it this year.”