Pleasant Valley’s volleyball team isn’t used to making comebacks.

But it needed one on Saturday to advance to the semifinal round of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference championships.

The second-seeded Bears rallied to win the final two sets against Easton to capture a 26-24, 13-25, 14-25, 25-21, 15-11 quarterfinal matchup.

The win not only allowed PV to move on in the tournament, but it also allowed the Bears to remain undefeated.

“Attitude adjustments and we had the capability to play the way we do in the fourth and fifth game,” Pleasant Valley head coach John Gesiskie said about the win. “Sometimes, players get a little complacent and expect that they can win by stepping on the court.

“It was quite obvious Easton wasn’t going to sit down. Easton played hard. We lost two sets - which we shouldn’t have, but we just weren’t playing.”

After being defeated soundly in the second and third sets, the Bears stepped up their game and pulled out a narrow victory in the fourth set. The deciding fifth game was the difference, allowing PV to improve to 19-0.

Rylee Ruggiero finished with 14 kills and nine blocks for Pleasant Valley, while Hannah Akob collected 10 kills and 11 digs.

“They came back at us harder than we had originally expected them to,” Akob said. “We knew they weren’t going to give it to us. They were being smart about their hits and where they put the ball and we weren’t.

“But we overcame that, and we knew that we can control what we control and just had to focus on playing our game.”

Pleasant Valley had a tough time containing Easton’s Olivia Keckler, who kept making great shots and blocks in what turned out be a competitive EPC quarterfinal.

“She’s an awesome player all-around,” Easton head coach Helen Deegan said about Keckler. “You can count on her for so much. She is definitely a team leader and captain and out there.

“She did a great job blocking, she did everything for us. It was great to see, She’s an incredible player.”

Easton, seeded seventh, proved it was going to be a tight match when it battled the Bears in the first set, losing by only two.

Then, the Red Rovers poured it on by taking the next two games convincingly.

The Bears settled down, though, and avoided the upset by winning back-to-back sets.

“I think our team played with too much emotion,” Deegan said. “Once they got down, they got too far down and it didn’t work for us out there. We have to go out and stay with the game face. That’s what we have to learn as players.”

Pleasant Valley swept Easton 3-0 during the regular season and the Bears had only dropped one set all year.

Now they move on after getting a scare from the Rovers.

“Easton, I thought, played a lot smarter ball,” Gesiskie said. “They were a little more consistent serving and hitting. We worked on that. Our girls weren’t getting to the line to cover that play, but they kept the ball control more on their side and overall, they improved too.

“Their passing got a lot better. We discussed that with the girls. They were off before, but that necessarily didn’t mean they’d be off this game. We have to play tough.”

THE FIRST MEETING ... Easton was determined to have a different showing than the first time the two teams met. “They took us in three last time,” Deegan said. “It was a really bad day for us and it was near the beginning of the season. We made a lot of adjustments and changes, and I think our team grew a lot stronger than what we were when we first saw them. It showed today. We did take some games, and there were some mistakes we made. It was a close game and a great battle. PV played great.”

FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING ... The Bears advanced in the EPC playoffs for the first time. Not only that, but they are still unbeaten. “That’s new territory for us,” Gesiskie said. “The girls are pumped up for practices. I thought they were ready the first day. They have to realize that when you come in here, other teams work just as hard. We have to click all the time. We need to make sure we’re on top of our game from now on.”

AKOB ON SENIOR SEASON ... “It’s crazy,” said Akob. “It’s so much fun. I never expected to be here, not that I didn’t have the confidence in the girls, but we went into the season with a little bit of an unknown. Now that we’re here, let’s see how far we can go.”

MORE STATS ... Other PV players who made key contributions included Brianna Bruckman (32 assists, 10 digs, three kills), Lexi Womack (27 digs, eight kills, two aces), Alexis Wilkes (14 digs, six assists) and Amiyah Poliseno (17 digs, four aces).