When Rudder took a 20-9 lead over Centerville in the fourth game, the Lady Rangers appeared on their way to a runaway volleyball victory at The Armory.

The Lady Rangers got their win but only after surviving a Lady Tigers' assault that cut the score to 22-20.

Senior Taylor Schwartz ended an 8-0 Centerville run with a spike, then dropped a well-placed dink for the game-winner as Rudder claimed an 18-25, 25-18, 25-22, 25-21 nondistrict victory Tuesday.

"We've done that several times this season," Rudder head coach Jacky Pence said. "We get big leads and haven't quite figured out how to finish. We're still working on that, but we are getting better because at least we did finish."

The win avenged a tournament loss earlier this season to Centerville (20-5), the seventh-ranked team in Class 2A.

"We definitely saw some weaknesses," said Centerville coach Dusty Crafton, whose team opens District 23-2A play Tuesday against Trinity. "Rudder hustled and played really, really hard. I told my girls if we had hustled like that we could have been in the game."

Rudder got a preview of Centerville's ability to rally in the third game. The Lady Rangers got winning dinks from Chandler Johnson and took a 22-16 lead when the Lady Tigers misfired twice.

With its first senior class leading the way, Rudder displayed maturity on the court in handling Centerville's runs and sticking to the game plan. The Lady Rangers also were far more aggressive hitting the ball in key parts of the match than in past seasons.

Schwartz led Rudder with 13 kills. Tylar Williams and sophomore "Yo-yo" Johnson each had 12, along with nine blocks.

"We made some adjustments in games two and three and were able to isolate a few things," Pence said. "My kids trusted me, and it really worked well."

Brooke Engel led a stellar defensive effort with 34 digs for Rudder. Sophomore Rocky Mitchell, who had 34 assists, had 15 digs.

Junior Jill Griffin provided much of the punch for Centerville, closing out the first game with a kill after Christy Wellman powered and Alexia Scarbrough positioned the Lady Tigers into the lead.

Wellman, who was slowed by a quadriceps injury in the final game, served during the game-four comeback, which started with a pair of winning shots from Scarbrough.

"We're kind of beat up right now, so hopefully we can get fresh," said Crafton, whose setter Taylor Sullivan played well despite working her way into the lineup after back surgery. "We had a couple of quad injuries. It's always tough during tournament season for everybody. I'm sure most teams across the state are glad tournament season is over, so they can get healthy."

Rudder controlled the second game, taking the lead at 6-5 and stretching it to 10-5 on the serve of Williams, who had three of her team-high six aces during that run. As Rudder built a 17-9 lead, Johnson had two big hits and a block to the floor. She wrapped up the game with a kill down the middle.

The Rudder JV defeated North Zulch's varsity 25-22, 25-20, 25-17. Brooke Sullivan, Karisa Bernal, Analecia Lopes and Tory Spradlin led Rudder.

The Rudder Green team defeated the North Zulch JV in three sets.