Dexter volleyball coach Starla Pulley felt optimistic despite her team's loss to Mountain View-Liberty on Tuesday night at the Bearcat Event Center.
The Bearcats took a team that averaged 24 wins a season over the past 10 years, won a state championship in 2014 and placed third at state just two years ago to three sets.
The Eagles beat Dexter 26-24, 20-25, 25-22.
"We didn't come out with a win at the end, but I think our girls are moving in the right direction," Pulley said. "Liberty's a solid team. ... They never let a ball hit without someone going for it. They had a good front row, good defense."
The Bearcats (11-6-1) recognized their three seniors -- Kelby Hill, Maycie Martin and Natalie Sitze -- before the match, but Pulley had four underclassmen on the court at times during the match.
"We're a young team. We're playing five underclassmen," Pulley said. "I think for having such a young team, they're slowly coming together and doing what we need to do at the end of the season."
The Bearcats overcame a 7-2 deficit in the first set to tie the match at 23 and 24. Liberty finished them off with a kill by Kennedy Cooley and a passing error by Dexter.
Dexter led for most of the second set, but the Eagles stayed close. Back-to-back kills by Martin and Alexa Werneck gave the Bearcats a 2-0 lead, but Liberty scored three straight points that included a service ace by Trinity Clark to take a 3-2 advantage.
The Eagles stretched the lead to three points (6-3) before Dexter scored seven of the next eight to take a 10-7 lead. Chloe Thurmon had two kills, and Blair Rogers had one during that stretch.
The Bearcats never trailed again in the set, although Liberty tied the score at 14 and 15 on kills by Ally Smith. They closed the set on a 4-1 run that featured a kill by Rogers and a service ace by Sitze.
"Every point was a battle," Pulley said. "They made us fight for every point, and we made them fight for every point. It was a good matchup and a good game."
The lead changed hands seven times and the score was tied on 11 occasions in the third set before the Eagles closed out the match with a 5-1 run punctuated by a match-winning kill by Piper Francis.
"We've got to learn to execute when the game's tight," Pulley said.
Liberty coach Shari Tune credited her team's defense, scrappiness and never-give-up attitude for winning the match and improving to 15-5-1.
"Since we started playing Dexter (three years ago), (we) actually hadn't beaten them," Tune said. "These girls wanted to get a first tonight for us. I think at the end, they finally dug down and got that grit, and that's what we did."
Martin and Thurmon paced the Bearcats with nine kills each. Rogers finished with five kills and 11 digs, and Werneck had four kills and a team-high six blocks.
Shelby Bishop and Dulcie Pullen had team highs of 13 assists each. Sitze led Dexter with 18 digs and two service aces.