JEWELL – Ady Wintermote’s jersey was so saturated in sweat that it looked like she’d just gone for a dip in the pool. Anna Moss’s cheeks were rosy red, and Alyssa Hegland’s entire face was an even deeper shade. Alissa Moss’s hair was dripping water everywhere.

They were beyond exhausted, but they were grinning.

From ear to ear.

After more than two hours of hard labor on Coach Jim Marsh Court in the oven that was the South Hamilton High gymnasium Tuesday evening, the South Hamilton volleyball team celebrated its most gratifying win of the season – a five-set thrill ride over Heart of Iowa Conference rival Gilbert, 25-22, 23-25, 25-14, 21-25, 16-14.

It was the seventh consecutive victory for the Hawks (9-4, 1-0 HOIC) and second straight five-set nail-biting triumph over the young Tigers, who have just one senior on a roster that is loaded with freshmen and sophomores.

South Hamilton pulled out the marathon win 15-9 in the fifth set a year ago. Gilbert won the head-to-head match-up in – of course – five sets a year earlier in 2013.

“Last year was fun beating them in five and this year was just unbelievable,” Ady Wintermote, the Hawks’ punishing junior outside hitter said after delivering a match-high 27 kills. “For how much we fought, I could never be more proud of my team than I am right now.”

The bout had 210 total points, 27 ties and 19 lead changes. What swung it in South Hamilton’s favor? Ady Wintermote and Hegland up at net, for starters, but also the precision setting of Alissa Moss (39 assists) and the relentless work in the back row from libero Anna Moss (42 digs), who fared well against a Gilbert attack that featured four players with plenty of pop.

“They are so good,” Ady Wintermote said of the Tigers’ hitters. “But I thought Anna and Lily (Skartvedt) and Ronnie (Olson) did so good at picking up all of their balls. We’ve been working on that forever and it showed.”

Hawks’ head coach Rusty Wintermote went with his gut and used a more hands-off approach with his players as the match developed, and he felt that was beneficial.

“I got away from telling them what to do,” he said. “I just told them I’m going to quit telling you what to run because now you’re too robotic. You run what you want to run, but take advantage of their weak points. I knew they would be more comfortable and they played more comfortable.”

Hegland blasted 18 kills, including two in the deciding set. She and Ady Wintermote combined to hit a staggering .466. The team’s two leaders also piled up 22 digs each and a combined six service aces.

Up 2-1, South Hamilton got behind early in the fourth set and was never able to catch up.

Gilbert kept the momentum early in the fifth set and quickly bolted out to a 7-2 advantage. The Tigers were the first to 10 and still led by three, but even then the Hawks didn’t panic.

“We were just saying that we know we can get this and we know we’ll be able to pull through,” Hegland said. “It was all adrenaline. We were ready to go.”

A kill by Skartvedt, her second of the match, ignited the late Hawks’ late rally and they eventually knotted it at 11 on an ace by Anna Moss. Skartvedt hammered a line-drive ace down the line a few points later to make it 13-12 in South Hamilton’s favor.

Gilbert (4-4, 0-1 HOIC) answered with back-to-back points and found itself with a match point at 14-13 on a Taylor Forth kill.

But South Hamilton provided the final surge by notching the last three points. The winner came on a tip to the back portion of the court, and as the ball dropped between two Gilbert players the eruption began on the Hawks’ side of the floor.

“We’ve been working on finishing strong,” Ady Wintermote said. “Every game we play, we’re going to give it everything we’ve got until the last point.”

It took the entire village to pull this one off.

Taylor Ratzke managed just one kill in the middle of the floor, but registered a team-high four blocks.

Olson came off the bench to pick up nine digs, two more than Skartvedt. Freshman Taylor Volkmann worked in as a setter and distributed 11 assists.

“This is a good rivalry and it’s one (the players) didn’t want to lose,” Rusty Wintermote said. “It’s going to be huge momentum for them. This is a good step.”

But it was just the first step in a deep and talented league that features top-ranked (Class 3A) Nevada. South Hamilton will face the Cubs in Nevada later this month.

Up next for the Hawks will be home tilts against Prairie City-Monroe and Saydel next Tuesday and Thursday.