Down 13-5 in the first set, Morgan Academy coach Kayla Mason yelled at her team to wake up. Mason called a timeout and reminded the Senators that East Memorial Christian Academy — a team they’d easily defeated at the beginning of the season — was going to be much tougher this time around.

Whatever she said must’ve done the trick. On senior night, Morgan rallied for a 25-19, 25-22, 25-17 victory in straight sets.

“They are a new team in the past several games where they’ve needed one or two points, they’ve made up their mind that they were going to get them,” Mason said. “It is like a different mindset. They can do what I’ve said they can do this whole time.”

Although there were some nervous moments early, the night was about Morgan’s three seniors — McKenzie Williams, Cassidy Lawrence and Elizabeth Barton.

“I told them this is their last home game in this gym … and I’d hate for them to go out in this last game with a loss,” Mason said.

All three did their part to make sure that didn’t happen.

The Senators came back to tie the game at 19-19 with a block from Williams in the first set. She had another block at the net to give Morgan a 21-19 advantage and the Senators rolled from there.

Hannah Free served an ace and then EMCA hit two returns into the net, giving the Senators a 25-19 first set win.

The second set was also very competitive. The Senators jumped out to a 5-0 lead, including three aces from Lawrence, but saw that lead vanish in a hurry. EMCA battled back to a 13-10 lead in a back and forth set.

After Morgan tied it on errors by EMCA, Lawrence had two kills to lead the Senators to a 19-15 lead. The Senators led 24-18 after an EMCA serve went out of bounds, but the Wildcats battled back to down only 24-22.

Mason called timeout and kept telling her team they only needed one more point.

“Usually they need a reality check every now and then,” Mason said.

Again, the Senators finished the set, with Lawrence tipping the ball at the net for a game finishing point.

The third set wasn’t nearly as close. Morgan dominated the middle part of the set and took a big lead. Kenzie Horton’s serving helped the Senators take the lead from 14-11 to 21-11.

Morgan Academy plays at Lowndes Academy on Tuesday and has three regular season games remaining.