Mt. Carmel, Ill. – Wabash Valley volleyball coach Mark Colvin tried his best to downplay the significance of Thursday night's Great Rivers Athletic Conference victory by his team.

But it was hard to hide from what they had just accomplished.

WVC defeated long-time GRAC kingpin John A. Logan in a stunning upset by a third-year program restart over the three-time defending champion Vols.

"It's big, but we don't want to get too caught up in it," said Colvin after the five-set triumph at Spencer Sports Center. "It could be a really big win if we keep going from here and keep on winning."

Sophomore outside hitter Andrea Andujar Mangual went a little bit farther. She said it was more than just a win.

"It's history because it's never happened," Mangual said. "Last year we were close, but it didn't happen. "

Logan (1-1, 0-1 in GRAC) won the first set, 25-18, but WVC (2-0, 1-0 in GRAC) rebounded to win the second set, 25-19, and even the match at one-game apiece.

In the third set, Logan jumped to a 9-3 lead, but the Warriors inched their way back, eventually tying the set at 22-all. The Vols regained the lead with an ace serve, and took it from there to win, 25-23.

Now, facing elimination, WVC roared back with perhaps its best overall set of the night. The Warriors jumped out to a 12-4 lead and never allowed Logan to seriously contend in a 25-16 win that squared the match at 2-sets apiece and forced a winner-take-all fifth set to 15 points.

Things did not go well for the Warriors during the first half of the tiebreaker. Logan led 9-3. Mangual's slapper at the net slowed the Vols down, and WVC won five of the next six points to close to within 10-8.

The Warrior momentum continued unabated. Malena Bixby's punch that was deflected out of bounds put the hosts ahead to stay 11-10.

All told WVC finished on a 12-2 run to take the rubber game, 15-11 – and the celebration was on.

Libero Caelyn Nelson, who had an impressive 23 digs on the night, said she was impressed with how far the team had come since defeating Frontier in the season opener just 10 days ago.

"We came together as a team tonight," said the freshman from Edwards County. "We got on a chemistry level we've never been to before. It's only going to get better from here."

Bixby had 16 kills to lead the Warriors. Jacklyn Simms finished with 13.

Kassidy Drone had 31 assists, while Valeria Ramos Allende totaled 25.

As a team, WVC had 12 blocks.

Logan finished 30-10 in the fall of 2019 and were undefeated in league play at 14-0. In fact, the Vols carried a 32-game GRAC winning streak into the contest, dating back to 2017.