ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. -- Elizabethtown had Stevenson on the ropes in its home finale Thursday night at Thompson Gymnasium, but the Mustangs scored seven unanswered points to claim the deciding fifth set and a 3-2 victory.

It was a bitter pill for the Blue Jays to swallow after rallying from a set down to take it the distance and then going up by five in the fifth. Sarah Schneider and Mackenzie Garner, two of E-town's three seniors honored prior to the match, showed the way early in the fifth set. Schneider had three kills and Garner two as the Jays jolted out to a 6-2 lead. Rileigh Hudock made it 8-3 with her team-leading third ace of the night.

The Mustangs (17-11) slowly closed the gap, but two service errors sandwiched around a Garner had Elizabethtown closing in on the victory, 12-8. Stevenson's Mackenzie Blevins came up with a huge dig on the next point and Darian Hileman's seemingly harmless no-look free ball fell in front of a pair of Blue Jays for a kill. Though E-town still held a three-point lead at the time, the unlikely point flipped momentum in the visitors' favor.

Victoria Prokic had three block assists and a solo block, Blevins had two block assists and Katie Leftridge one block assist as Stevenson fortified the net with denials accounting for four of their final six points.

Elizabethtown (16-15), which was looking for its first win over Stevenson since 2000, when it was known as Villa Julie College, and its first 10-win home season in six years, did nearly everything it could to make both a reality.

Garner and Schneider went for four kills each, and Elle Shatto had a pair of kills and two aces as the Blue and Gray hit .417 (11-1-24) to take the first set, 25-19.

Stevenson bounced back with 25-19 and 25-18 victories in the second and third. Leftridge had seven of her match-high 19 kills in the second, Hileman supplied four kills in the third and the Blue Jays attacked at less than .100 in each set.

Similar to Tuesday night's loss against nationally-ranked Juniata, E-town showed resolve. Two kills and an ace from Schneider, along with two aces by Hudock pushed the Blue Jays to an 11-7 lead in the fourth. E-town's lead grew to as many as five points, before the Stangs came roaring back to lead 19-18 on Moriah Savage's kill that capped a 6-1 run.

Shelly Yohe put the Jays back in front for good with a kill. Three attacking errors later, E-town had extended the match with a 25-21 win on Garner and Hudock's combo block.

Schneider finished with a double-double for the fifth time in her last six matches, compiling a team-high 14 kills and 15 digs. The Downingtown native, who also had three blocks and two aces, is on pace to finish with more than 800 career kills and 800 career digs. Hudock registered a double-double as well --her 14th of the season-- with a match-high 37 assists and 16 digs. The freshman setter is 18 assists away from 900 on the season.

Garner collected 12 kills, three blocks and two aces, and is just 11 kills shy of tying hall of famer Emily Morris (1,188) for fifth among the program's all-time leaders. Shatto had eight kills and Kelli Garriott added six. Libero Aiyana Tietze-Di Toro surpassed 800 career digs (808) by tying Hudock for the team-high with 16 on Thursday.

Leftridge topped Stevenson with 19 kills and 17 digs. Four players registered double-digit digs as Hileman and Julie Nightwine each had 11 and Emily Pellini 10. Nightwine assisted on 28 of the Mustangs' 61 kills and Caroline Dangel had 21 helpers.

Elizabethtown seniors Garner, Schneider and Katie Kennedy were recognized for their contributions to the program during a pre-match ceremony. Kennedy started and had a season-high five digs.

The Blue Jays play a pair of midweek non-conference matches at Wilson (Tuesday) and Ursinus (Thursday), before finishing the regular season with a Landmark weekend at Moravian on Oct. 27.