WALHALLA — As sophomore Mackenzie Fowler put the Walhalla High School volleyball team within a point of winning its match against Abbeville on Tuesday night, Razorbacks head coach Anna Bess Morrison could barely stand the pressure, as her face was buried deeply in her hands.

Despite that bit of stressing, it was that kind of pressure that ultimately drove the Razorbacks to the win on their home court, as they downed the visiting Panthers by a final score of 3-1, via scores of 25-23, 14-25, 25-21 and 25-14.

Walhalla (5-2, 2-0 Skyline AA) was able to come back strong following an ugly loss in the second set of the night, before winning two straight sets to claim the victory after the momentum had swung to Abbeville in a closely contested match.

“It was great competition, and I think my girls do well under pressure,” Morrison said. “We’re still working on consistency, but they never give up and that’s what I told them after the match.”

After the teams had split the opening two sets of the night, Abbeville (2-4, 0-2) had claimed a lead nearly midway through the third set on a serving ace from Anna Baughman, and Heather Richey followed with a kill to put the Panthers ahead 11-9.

But the Razors came on strong following a kill from Tish Winchester to bring them within a point at 14-13, just before she came up with a serving ace and held her serve for three points on the way to a 16-14 Walhalla lead.

Abbeville managed to tie the set at 19-19 on a kill from Olivia Owens, but the Razors held on as Ashlee Smith set the ball for Winchester, who put a soft touch on the ball for the final point of the set to help Walhalla reclaim a 2-1 lead going into what proved to be the final set of the night.

“Even though we get down and we may lose a set or two, we’ve got to keep working and they do,” Morrison said. “You can see they never give up as a team.”

Walhalla jumped out to an early 7-2 lead in the fourth set, and Abbeville never got closer than 9-7 when LaCorsha Wilson picked up a kill in a set that saw Walhalla run away with a 25-14 decision as it pounded the ball hard, with junior Lauren Spearman particularly standing out.

“We just couldn’t get our blocking going,” Abbeville head coach Robbie Caldwell said. “We had it going in the first and second game, and we just couldn’t get it going after that.”

And while the win may have been a bit stressful for Morrison on Tuesday, she won’t mind going through a little more as long as the Razorbacks keep piling up the wins.

“When they’re under pressure, they seem to step up, so I’d rather play matches like this one,” Morrison said.