TAYLORS — The Daniel High School volleyball team isn’t used to losing this season, even when it comes to just one game within a match.

So when Eastside won the second game of its third round matchup with the Lions in the Class 3A playoffs on Monday, it’s safe to say that Daniel was a little unsure of what had just transpired.

It’s also safe to say that the Lions weren’t particularly happy.

Daniel came storming back to win the next two games 25-17 and 25-16, sending itself to the Upper State finals Wednesday at home against Riverside.

“A team of Eastside’s caliber, you can’t make one mistake because it goes back and forth and back and forth,” Daniel head coach Joy Stewart said. “The only way that you’re going to beat a team like this is to dominate from point one to point 25. They finally got that momentum going and never looked back.”

That momentum took its time to show up for the Lions, as they had to fight hard to hang on in the first game before coming away with a 25-20 victory.

In the second game, Daniel led 3-2 early, but did not reclaim the lead until Sarah Hughey’s ace made it 21-20. After going up 23-20 on a Sarah Beasley kill, the Lions appeared ready to take a 2-0 lead and cruise to another victory.

But Eastside called a timeout, and when the teams returned to the court the game changed. The Eagles won the next four points, including a kill from Alex Kinzer, to go up 24-23. Daniel came back to tie the game at 24 with a Hughey kill, but was unable to regain command and eventually dropped the game 27-25.

Daniel jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the third game, and never led by less than four points. Sherece Smith started the game with two kills, and finished what she started with another kill to go up 2-1 in the match.

“They fought hard,” Stewart said. “They wanted this and they worked hard. They didn’t lose their focus, they kept plugging away, and they didn’t get out of sorts. They played with confidence. They knew that they had to keep doing it and that’s exactly what they did.”

Even though the Lions didn’t take their first lead until 14-13 in the fourth game, they never fell too far behind. When they did get out in front, they never looked back.

And now, Daniel finds itself only one match away from a showdown on the highest level.

“They’re goal is to go to state,” Stewart said. “They’ve got one more game to get there and they’re going to do it.”