The Raymond Seagulls faced the very real possibility of seeing their slim one-game lead over the Forks Spartans in the 2B Pacific League race slip away right in front of their eyes.

But down two sets to one against a taller, heavy-hitting Spartans squad, Raymond rallied to sweep the final two sets and earn a thrilling 3-2 win on Tuesday at Raymond High School.

Raymond (12-2 overall, 10-0 2B Pacific) now holds a commanding two-game lead over the Spartans (9-4, 8-2) after the 25-23, 20-25, 22-25, 25-21 and 15-8 win.

Tied at 1-1, Raymond took the early lead in the third set 6-3 on a drop shot by senior middle hitter Alia Enlow.

Behind the hitting of junior middle blocker Kaidence Rigby and senior outside hitter Kyra Neel, Forks would quickly take the lead at 7-6 and hold it the remainder of the game despite never gaining more than a four-point lead over the Seagulls.

Needing a win in Game 4 to stave off a bitter loss, Raymond got out to an early 5-1 lead before seeing Forks respond to take a 12-9 lead on a Neel ace.

The two teams traded leads multiple times throughout the remainder of the set and were tied late at 19-19.

But Raymond dominated the final stretch of the set, getting a kill from junior outside hitter Kyndal Koski and a block from freshman middle hitter Kassie Koski to take a 23-20 lead.

Seagulls sophomore outside hitter Karsyn Freeman closed out the set by hammering kills for two of the game’s final three points to force the match to a fifth and final set.

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Raymond sophomore outside hitter Karsyn Freeman (6) gets one of her team best 12 kills during the Seagulls’ five-set victory on Tuesday at Raymond High School.

Riding a wave of momentum, Raymond stormed out of the gate in the fifth set with renewed energy and aggression.

The Gulls jumped out to a 5-1 lead paced by the service of Kyndal Koski and an Enlow kill that deflected out of bounds off a block attempt.

After a Forks timeout with Raymond up 6-1, the Seagulls continued to put on the pressure.

A Freeman kill followed by Enlow smashing back a Spartans pass that sailed on to the Raymond side of the net put the Gulls up 8-1.

Kyndal Koski would stretch the lead to 10-4 on a kill and 12-6 on a perfectly-placed drop shot down the line.

A Forks shot out of bounds followed by an ace from Spartans setter Erika Williams put the score at 14-8 in favor of the Seagulls.

On Williams’ next serve, Kyndal Koski made a clean reception over to senior outside hitter Jolie Dunn, who set up Freeman for a kill that just touched down inside the back line, giving Raymond a rousing five-set victory.

“Incredible,” said Freeman on the win, one which gives Raymond a head-to-head tiebreaker over Forks having gone 2-0 against the Spartans this season. “I’m so glad that we brought it back. We had let ourselves down in the second and third sets, but then we got into the circle and said, ‘We have to come back now. We did it once, we can do it again.’”

“We came out harder in the last set than how we came out in all the other sets,” Enlow said. “We came out hard from the get-go instead of waiting to pick up our speed.”

Freeman led Raymond with 12 kills and came alive when the Gulls needed her most, recording nine of those kills in the fourth and fifth sets combined.

Enlow had eight kills with Kassie Koski adding five kills in the match for Raymond. Freshman setter Megan Kongbouakhay had 39 assists for the Seagulls.

“We talked about getting an attack right after receive. … We scored right away and that turned the tide and put us on offense,” Raymond head coach Julie Jewell said. “We started on serve-receive in Game 5 and it was the same thing that we focused on: We are going to attack and score off serve-receive and that is what the difference was.”

Jewell moved several players into different positions in hopes of maximizing her team’s abilities, including switching libero Kyndal Koski to an outside hitter role.

“She directs traffic and moving her outside, everybody else has to step up,” Jewell said. “She sees the court really well. She is our best ball-handler, so we moved her outside to see if that would help.”

Enlow said she personally had to adjust to playing a more all-around game rather than her normal position at the net, but the strategy worked.

“I was low-key scared for this game because we just switched up a lot of things on the court. I never played all around, ever,” she said. “But it turned out well and I felt confident out there in the back for the first time.”

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Raymond freshman hitter Kassie Koskie (8) rises for a kill attempt against Forks middle blocker Kaidence Rigby (13) during the Seagulls’ five-set victory on Tuesday at Raymond High School. With the win, the Seagulls take a two-game lead over the Spartans for first place in the 2B Pacific League.

Raymond has two games left on the regular season schedule — at North Beach at 7 p.m. Thursday and at South Bend at 7 p.m. the following Wednesday — sandwiched around a non-league matchup with undefeated Hoquiam on Monday at Olympic Stadium.

Having essentially locked up the 2B Pacific League title, the Seagulls understand they need to remain focused in order to close out the regular season on a high note.

“The biggest thing we have to work on is communication and making sure we are in the right spots and just staying positive,” Freeman said.

“We’re just going to have to come out strong and not slack off because we won a couple of games,” said Enlow.

For Jewell, Tuesday’s gutsy performance represents a culmination of the hard work the team has put in after its last lost on Oct. 10 against Napavine.

“This is a great example of us being better (after the Napavine loss),” she said. “We’re talking, our focus is keying in on certain things to get momentum on our side and keep momentum on our side. Our chemistry is good and this is a testament to their character. They are warriors.”