Nothing has ever come easy for South Medford’s volleyball team when it faces Sheldon, so it’s no wonder Thursday night’s action played out like it did in the Panthers’ gym.

South Medford twice went to match point and was turned back before the Panthers found the third time to be the charm during a pivotal fourth set that saw the lead sway throughout from one side of the court to the other.

And for the first time under the direction of head coach Robin Akpan — and certainly more than a decade — South Medford was able to walk away with a victory over its nemesis after the Panthers secured a 25-19, 25-20, 20-25, 28-26 Southwest Conference triumph.

“It was a big victory for us tonight,” said Akpan. “It definitely took us to 28-26 to be able to close the door because they’re a good team and they’re super scrappy. They always have a strong program so it was a big win for us tonight.”

After missing out on closing the match in straight sets, the Panthers (7-3, 3-0 SWC) did not let a gritty comeback effort by the Irish (8-6, 2-2) serve as a deterrent in the fourth set. Sheldon and South Medford matched one another hit for hit, never allowing the other to get too far ahead or too comfortable in their attack.

The Panthers served for a match victory at 25-24 and 26-25 before Julia Slaughter toed the service line and sent a line drive serve toward the back row that had to be awkwardly received by the Irish and ultimately just rallied back over the net.

Hadassah Pannell passed the ball to fellow junior Mayen Akpan, whose bump to the net set up sophomore Julia Mitchell for several attack options. Mitchell chose to fake a big rush before softly touching the ball inside the near corner for the match-winner.

The evolution of being able to stand resolute in those moments provided a big moment for the Panthers, according to coach Akpan.

“We’re trying to figure out where we’re going,” she said. “We’re a really strong team but we’re still building our program so I think to have the ability to close out the set and know that we could secure that in tight pressure moments was a big part for us.”

“On Tuesday night we went into a fifth set (at Roseburg) and we were able to handle that as well,” she added, “so I’m excited about how every night I’m seeing the team grow. We might be a young team but if every night we’re improving then we’re going to end up with the successes, and that’s what happened tonight.”

Mitchell reached a career-high with six kills to go with four digs and one ace, while Akpan said Daija Malcolm “was on fire at the net” after recording 11 kills and two blocks.

South Medford’s steady leaders in Mayen Akpan and Slaughter supplied their typical marks, with Slaughter registering 39 assists to go with three aces and Akpan — one of the state’s kill leaders — adding 27 kills and two blocks.

“I feel like tonight it was a big team effort,” said coach Akpan. “We had to have a number of hitters available and contributing tonight. I think Mayen was a little beat up from Tuesday so being able to rely on some of our other players and having them be able to be accountable was really exciting. I think that’s great when we have multiple assets out there and are able to have a multiple offense and setters being able to make lots of decisions. That was exciting tonight.”

As exciting as it was, coach Akpan tempered the moment with the notion that while gaining a first win over Sheldon is thrilling, there’s plenty more work to be done as the season is barely at the midway point.

“This is the first time around (the SWC),” said the coach. “We’re going to have to get ready to play this team again and they’re super scrappy so we’re going to have to make a lot of changes to be able to hopefully close that game out and win it on the second time around. This is a big step but we know we’ve got to make quite a few more here in the next few weeks.”

CRATER 3, THURSTON 0: At Springfield, Crater senior Callie Aplin paced her team with 12 kills and 10 digs and Alexa Gugliotta added seven kills and six digs as the Comets cruised in straight sets, 25-11, 25-9, 25-14.

Lanie Snow added five kills and four blocks, Kendall Stidham had 23 assists and seven digs and Kaci Wilson provided eight assists, six aces and three digs for Crater (5-2, 3-0 MWL).

The Comets also got nine digs from Tatum Richmond, seven digs from Carsyn Hillyer and five kills, three blocks and two digs from Danica Huntoon.

ASHLAND 3, SPRINGFIELD 0: At Ashland, after a dominant first set, Ashland weathered a second-set challenge by Springfield before ultimately coming out on top in a 25-11, 25-23, 25-18 MWL triumph.

Ayla Allen closed out the nail-biting second set with two aces and finished with three overall to go with six kills and four blocks for the Grizzlies (3-3, 2-1 MWL), who also got 21 digs from Savannah Elster and 26 assists from Kiera Kubiak.

Mila Nicolik came through with a career-high 14 kills to go with two blocks and four digs, while Gita Lustman had seven kills and 17 digs and Stella Thompson had five kills and three blocks.

NORTH EUGENE 3, EAGLE POINT 0: At Eagle Point, Blakely Schauffler supplied six kills, 11 digs and two aces and Evy Leonardo had 12 assists as Eagle Point fell in Midwestern League play, 25-12, 25-21, 25-20.

Karris Johnson had three kills and two aces, Madisyn Dean added nine digs and Emary Haning had three assists for the Eagles (1-6, 0-3 MWL).

CASCADE CHRISTIAN 3, NORTH VALLEY 0: Cascade Christian senior outside hitter Poppy Freeman provided 11 kills, 16 digs and two blocks and junior libero Grace McCauley added 22 digs in a 25-14, 25-11, 25-20 triumph.

Isabel McCauley had eight kills, three digs and two blocks, Julia Brehm managed four kills and Rylan Hunter added 16 assists, three aces and six digs for the Challengers (3-4, 1-0 SOC).

ST. MARY’S 3, LAKEVIEW 1: At Lakeview, St. Mary’s junior outside hitter Ada Bernard produced 30 kills, Lexi Smith had 30 digs and Ella Yeamans doled out 34 assists to lead the Crusaders to a 25-20, 25-16, 22-25, 28-26 victory.

Sydney Holdermann came up with seven kills and 21 digs and Lexi Mills added seven kills and 25 digs for St. Mary’s (5-4, 1-0 SOC).