GLENS FALLS – One point away. Late on a tense Saturday evening at Glens Falls’ Cool Insuring Arena, the Fayetteville-Manlius girls volleyball team found itself ahead 14-13 in the fifth set of the state Class AA championship match against Long Island’ Half Hollow Hills West. Already for more than two hours the Hornets and Colts had battled with multiple comebacks and momentum swings, all leading to this climactic moment. Before F-M could serve that match point, though, HHH West called a timeout. Then, on back-to-back plays, Alexis Pellis put away kills to give the Colts its own match point and, unlike the Hornets, it would convert. By that 16-14 margin the best-ever F-M girls volleyball season concluded, agonizingly close to the ultimate prize but denied in the final breath. That it even got to this place was a tribute to the resilience both teams would show on this night. Unbeaten in three round robin matches the night before, the Hornets jumped out 7-3 in the opening set, only to have the Colts take over the rest of the way and take it 25-17. By contrast, the second set was all F-M, with tremendous defense at the start and, taking full advantage of every HHH West mistake, romping to a 25-13 win to even it up. The third set was where this match really turned into a classic. Trailing by as many as eight points, 19-11, the Hornets staged a furious comeback after it had used both of its time-outs, fending off a set point to tie it 24-24 and then pulling it out 27-25. Many teams, after such a setback, may have folded. Not the Colts, though, as it jumped well out in front again in the fourth set and this time had no trouble hanging on to it in another 25-17 decision. So the state championship hung on the final set, a race to 15 points with the winner having to take it by two. The Hornets led 8-5 at the changeover, but the Colts rallied to tie it 13-13. A block at the net moved the Hornets to championship point – one which proved elusive. Overall, Kalyna Dannenberg led the front line with 20 kills as Malana Noble got 12 kills, the pair each producing 19 digs on defense to help Larah Schepp, who got 21 digs. Laila Duggal earned 37 assists, adding 13 digs as Olivia Tom got six kills and Kara Evans three kills plus four blocks. Dannenberg had four aces and Duggal added three aces. Back on Nov. 6 in the Section III Class AA semifinal round, F-M dropped a set to Oswego. It did not drop another set again until coming to Glens Falls thanks to sweeps of West Genesee in the sectional final and Niskayuna in the regional final a week later. Playing in its first-ever state final four, F-M’s lack of experience at this level did not prove a deterrent as it headed into round-robin play Friday where it would meet each of the other three teams in best-of-three matches. First going up against Section I’s Minisink Valley, the Hornets survived a close first set 25-23 but then rolled through the second set 25-16 to gain an early edge. Brighton, from Section V, came next. The Barons ended F-M’s streak of consecutive sets taking the opener 25-15, but the Hornets seemed to gain every important point in a 25-23 second set and then, in the final set, pulling it out 17-16. HHH West was the third opponent. The Colts would, in another 25-23 decision, win the opening set before the Hornets again rallied, this time in a 25-20 second set and 15-4 third set. Having swept Brighton and Minisink in its other matches, HHH West still made it to a rematch with F-M where, right at the end, it would deny the Hornets the ultimate satisfaction.