NEW MANCHESTER, W.Va. — Oak Glen showed it has the ability to respond in a big moment.

After dropping the first set against Tyler Consolidated in Thursday’s Class AA Region 1 semifinal, the Oak Glen volleyball team regrouped and stormed away to win the next three sets and the match, 22-25, 25-14, 25-11, 25-18.

The Golden Bears, who improved to 25-10-3 and are the top seed in the region, are now in the driver’s seat for a return trip to the state tournament as they will host the regional final on Monday, only needing one more win for a trip to Charleston.

“We came in a little flat, but we picked it up really quick after going down 0-1,” Oak Glen head coach Morgan Saddler said. “I thought we played great tonight after that first set. We played together as a team, everyone played their roles and we showed some fire and were able to get it done.”

Tyler Consolidated, the No. 4 seed, had swept fifth-seeded Williamstown in the opening match of the night to advance to face Oak Glen. They carried that momentum over early, winning a close first set 25-22, but ultimately the Bears were too much to be tamed for long, as evidenced by opening up a 20-3 lead in the second set on the way to evening the match with a 25-14 win.

In all three sets, every time the Silver Knights (24-11) tried to counter, Oak Glen would rebound and close things on a run, taking the lead with a decisive 25-11 third set win. Then, in the fourth set, Tyler fought to stay alive and pulled within 18-14 after trailing 11-1, but the Bears pulled back away to close things out with a 25-18 victory.

“We did a good job of putting sets away,” Saddler said. “Tyler is a great team, they’ve had a great season and we knew they would be a challenge. They came in ready to play and it was a good match.”

Mikalyn Balch, only a junior with a full season left to go to add to her totals, hit another milestone in the victory as she recorded 56 assists, passing 900 for the season and 2,000 for her career.

“It was a lot of hard work, but I could not have done it without my teammates,” Balch said. “I play with some really talented teammates that made it possible.”

In addition to Balch’s milestone night, Brooklyn Six had 24 kills, 15 digs, a block and three aces, Averi Martin tallied 16 kills, six digs and a block, Brayley Lash recorded 12 kills, two digs, two blocks and an ace and Keira Vick netted 25 digs.

A large, loud Oak Glen crowd made the home court advantage the Bears worked so hard to get for the tournament everything they had hoped it would be.

“We always say our community support is everything,” Saddler said. “It’s awesome to see our community show up for us year after year.”

“It was great in here,” Balch added. “It was a lot of fun to play in front of a crowd like that and have the support from the community and play in front of people I know.”

They’ll have that home court advantage again on Monday, when they could face a rematch with the Silver Knights.

Tyler and Williamstown will play in the loser’s bracket final Monday with the winner advancing to battle the Bears on Monday night for the regional title and a trip to state. The winner of the early match will have to win twice against Oak Glen. A winner-take-all match, if necessary, would be played on Wednesday.