JACKSON TWP — Seneca Valley volleyball coach Josh Springer liked what he saw when his squad played Butler in a recent tournament.

In the first game of Tuesday's section match, it didn't look like the same team.

Butler came out sharp in the beginning, taking the first game, but the Raiders won the next three to come away with a 21-25, 25-15, 25-23, 25-21 victory.

"We played them a couple of weeks ago and we were at our peak. The match was not close," said Springer. "In this match, (the Raiders) thought we'd be OK, but Butler took us by surprise. They served well and their setter was good."

Butler scored four consecutive points to take an early 5-3 lead. The Raiders tied the game at 14-all and 18-all, but never could take the lead.

Butler (3-4, 2-3) closed the game by scoring four of the final five points.

"The blocking came together," said Tornado coach Lew Liparulo. "We were even with them and the game was very close.

"It comes down to who makes the most errors and that ended up being us,"Liparulo added.

The Raiders (3-2 in section play) responded with a definitive second game, erasing a 5-1 deficit to knot the score twice.

From then on, the Raiders closed out the game by winning 15 of the final 20 points. Marc DeMarco keyed the run by serving five consecutive points.

"It was big and it showed my team the difference when you play par and when you play above that," said Springer.

In the pivotal third game, both squads gave up very little ground, recording 13 ties and a 16-all score.

The Raiders won the next four points to take a 20-16 lead, but the Tornado countered with a 5-1 run to tie the game at 21.

Following a Raiders timeout, the team scored three straight points before a Butler timeout was followed by a pair of Tornado points for a 24-23 Raiders lead.

Paul Kurlak's kill on the next point gave the Raiders the game.

In the final game, Seneca Valley jumped out to an 8-2 lead and Butler couldn't pull closer than three points the rest of the way.

"We had six kills in that last game and still lost 25-21," said Liparulo. "There's a lot going on out there, but we made more mistakes."

Kurlak and Conor Barrett paved the way for the Raiders, recording 12 kills each.

"When they're on, they're on," said Springer. "Paul's our best player and Conor's one of the best (track and) field jumpers."

Butler received 13 kills from Andrew Willison, 11 passes from Steve Hitchen, four blocks from Bill Roberts and 31 assists from Luke Lombardo.

The Raiders also had nine kills apiece from Luke McKinney and John Fitzpatrick, and eight more from Nate Steele.

Next up, Seneca Valley will host Ambridge, ranked No. 2 in the state, Thursday while Butler will host Hopewell Thursday.