JACKSON TWP — Zoe Pawlak’s sizzling serves snapped the Freeport girls volleyball team out of a two-set funk.

Had the Yellowjackets played another set like the previous two, North East would have advanced in the first round of the PIAA Tournament Tuesday at William Paul Gymnasium.

Pawlak landed two aces as part of an 8-0 run in the fifth set that sparked Freeport to a 3-2 (25-23, 25-11, 11-25, 20-25, 15-8) win over the Grapepickers.

Pawlak’s stretch of points sunk all the momentum North East (13-6) built the previous two sets.

“Getting a lead like that really helps,” said Pawlak, who had 16 kills and six aces. “We just feel a lot more comfortable when we have a lead.”

The Yellowjackets (20-1) will play District 5 champion Somerset in the quarterfinals Saturday at a site and time to be determined. Freeport, which is 20-1, has never made the state semifinals.

“Looking forward to making it further than the quarterfinals,” senior hitter Morgan Ruppersberger said. “I know in the past three years, the furthest we made it was the quarters and we lost to Fort Leboeuf. I want to go further and play them in the semifinals.”

Both teams traded points to open the fifth set. A kill from Ruppersberger gave Freeport the serve with the set tied at six.

When Pawlak was done, the Yellowjackets were up 14-6.

“Game five isn’t a marathon, it’s a sprint,” Freeport Tom Phillips said. “When you get to eight points, you want to be in the lead. That’s what we talk about all the time. We’ve been fortunate that we haven’t been in a lot of game fives.”

A fast start by the Yellowjackets indicated a sweep more than a marathon.

Freeport opened the first set with a 7-2 run before holding on for a 25-23 win. The Grapepickers struggled hitting in the second set and never led.

To climb back into it, North East coach Sherry Elchynski was focused on shutting down Pawlak.

“I think the third and fourth game, we were able to contain Zoe and shut her serve down,” Elchynski said. “We tried to keep the serve away from her and from the libero and the other girls struggled. That helped us out, too.”

The Yellowjackets had issues getting into their offense and North East climbed back into the match with 25-11 and 25-20 wins.

“We struggled to pass the ball,” Phillips said. “If you can’t pass the ball, you can’t stay in system. I don’t care if you have five Zoe Pawlak’s out there.”

Freeport got in gear during the final set. That has the Yellowjackets moving on.

“We came in during time outs and just talked about we had to do,” Pawlak said. “We had to focus on not giving up points that were easy and making them have to work for their points.”