BUTLER TWP - When in doubt, look for the big guy.

Seneca Valley 6-foot-9 senior middle hitter Paul Kurlak produced three consecutive kills during a seven-point rally in Game 4 Tuesday night at Butler, enabling the Raiders to wipe out a 15-8 deficit.

Seneca Valley (7-1) went on to win the match 3-1 by scores of 25-16, 20-25, 25-15, 25-22.

"Paul's the leader of this team," Raiders coach Josh Springer said. "He's also No. 1-ranked academically out of more than 700 students in his senior class.

"Kids look up to him in more ways than one."

Kurlak tallied 14 kills and five blocks while Nathan Hayden and Nathan Steele had seven kills each.

"They have a lot of power hitters, but we facilitated that when we stopped serving-receiving. ... We had stretches when we weren't aggressive and it cost us," Butler coach Lew Liparulo said.

The win was big for the Raiders in the sense that it came on the heels of getting swept in three sets by North Allegheny and after being out of school for five days.

"I was worried about this match for those reasons," Springer said. "NA beat us and beat us good. And when you're not in school, you miss that socialization and interaction with your peers.

"It's hard having the kids come out of their homes, get on a bus and go play a road game. I was pleased with how we responded to all of that."

The Raiders never trailed in Game 1 and took a quick 6-2 lead in Game 2. Butler (3-2) outscored SV 22-10, however, to assume a 24-17 lead.

Butler junior middle hitter Spencer Koehring had four points during that stretch, then scored the game's final point to pull his team even.

Koehring led the Tornado with six blocks. Andrew Willison had 12 kills and sophomore setter Dustin DeFrancisis had 15 assists.

Willison scored four points early in Game 3, his service ace pulling Butler to within a point at 6-5. An 11-2 Raiders run opened a 17-7 lead, though, and Seneca Valley cruised to a 25-15 win in the game.

Willison and senior middle hitter Bill Roberts led Butler to a 12-6 lead in Game 4, prompting Springer to call a timeout.

The coach's talk was motivational, not mechanical.

"All I told them was we're not supposed to be losing to Butler like this. This can't happen," Springer said. "I pick and choose when to call time, when to slow the play down."

The Tornado had a 19-17 lead late in Game 4, but three kills by Hayden helped the Raiders to a 21-20 advantage.

The last tie of the night was at 21. Steele had the kill that put SV in the lead for good. Patrick Kulp and Hayden scored the final points of the night for the Raiders.

Steve Emling had seven digs and senior setter Marc DeMarco had 35 assists for Seneca Valley, which began the night ranked No. 5 by the Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association.

"When we lose, I get emotional, the kids get emotional," Liparulo said. "Andrew had a great game, so did a bunch of our other guys.

"This was tough. We had a shot at this."

Seneca Valley's junior varsity improved to 6-0 with a 25-19, 25-18 win.

Both teams play Thursday night, as the Raiders head to Fox Chapel and Butler hosts North Hills.