GROVE CITY — Belle Chiodo dribbled the volleyball several times during the time out.

She didn't look at the scoreboard. She didn't look at her teammates. Instead, she only looked at the ball.

“All I was thinking about was, 'Get it over the net,” said the Grove City High senior libero. “Just, 'Get the ball over and in,' just as coach always says. I just had to take a deep breath and think this isn't for me. It's for my team.”

Chiodo's serve cleared the net by plenty and resulted in a very important point for the Eagles in Game 5 of their match against Slippery Rock Thursday night.

The Rockets led 17-16 at the time. It was Slippery Rock's second match-point in the fifth game.

Grove City went on to score that point to tie the decisive game at 17-17 and then scored the next two for a 25-20, 15-25, 25-14, 21-25, 19-17 win in an epic match on “Pink Out, Serve for the Cure” night.

“I love it. I'm so happy,” said Grove City senior Adrianna Adams. “It just feels so good to get the win.”

It certainly didn't come easily.

Slippery Rock beat Grove City earlier this season and got contributions from across its entire lineup in the rematch.

Kortney Schaum led the Rockets (2-4 in the region) in kills with 13, but five other players also notched kills for Slippery Rock.

Meanwhile, the Rockets defense did a serviceable job containing Grove City's big hitter, senior Jordyn Wyllie.

“I thought our defense did a great job,” said Slippery Rock coach Lauren Franklin. “She got some in there on us, but we did a good job containing her. We just stopped being aggressive (in the fifth game).”

Wyllie did end up with 26 kills and five aces on the night, but the biggest point came off a kill from Carla Cintron, who put one on the floor to give Grove City an 18-17 lead in the fifth game.

Macguire Gubba then served an ace to send the packed house at Grove City into a frenzy.

Eagles' fans, decked out in pink shirts for Pink Out night, swarmed the floor and engulfed the jubilant players.

“It's our biggest rival,” Chiodo said. “It was so good to get this. When we were in the huddle, all we said was think of the team and play with our hearts. That's what we did.”

Grove City (3-3 in the region) is now in the thick of the playoff race following the win after suffering several losses under similar gut-wrenching circumstances this season.

The Eagles were also playing without their top setter, Hannah Santom, who suffered a concussion in a loss to Conneaut Tuesday.

“It's perseverance and heart,” said Grove City coach Dawn Haggart. “We were playing without one of our setters, and we found out at 3 o'clock that she wasn't allowed to play. She's a huge part of the offense. It affected us a lot.

“They just wanted it,” Haggart added. “They just went for it.”

Grove City won the odd numbered games. Slippery Rock won the even numbered games.

The fifth game was a microcosm of the match as both teams traded runs with the Eagles finally surviving a match that lasted nearly two hours.

“We knew we had to dig deep and really rally,” Haggart said. “We knew it was going to be a dogfight with Slippery Rock. It always is.”

Before the match, Grove City honored Shawnee Denbow, a former volleyball and softball coach and physical education teacher at the school.

Denbow is a two-time survivor of breast cancer.

Denbow started the volleyball program at Grove City in 1985 and, after posting a 4-16 record that first season, went on to win 302 matches in her 18 years as coach.

During her tenure, the Eagles won 14 league championships, four District 10 championship and made seven trips to the PIAA tournament.

Half of the proceeds from the match went to Denbow's charities, St. Jude's Hospital and the American Cancer Society's “Road to Recovery” for patients battling breast cancer.