PITTSBORO — Seaforth’s final sweep in the Big Seven 4A/5A Conference Tournament was the toughest, but the most rewarding.

The Hawks held off a couple of late-set runs and completed a comeback in the final frame to defeat Orange 3-0 for the conference tournament title.

“I think we definitely knew that Orange was coming ready to play,” Seaforth senior Ally Forbes said. “They’re an amazing team, and I think they did really good today. I think we just came ready to play. We had a talk before, and we were just like, ‘We have to come out — like they’re super hot. They have a ton of momentum.’ We just had to come out and play hard and win, and it was super fun.”

Seaforth led by as much as seven in the opening set, but after a timeout, multiple kills from Orange freshman Avery O’Quinn helped the Panthers turn a 20-13 deficit into a 22-20 affair. Coming out of another timeout, a kill from Seaforth freshman Emira Leonard and a powerful attack by Forbes put the Hawks at set point. Yet, senior Sawyer White landed a crafty kill, and O’Quinn notched an ace to bring Orange within one. Seaforth won the set with an Orange serve that sailed out of bounds.

In the second frame, Seaforth once again had the Panthers on the ropes. The Hawks held a 24-18 advantage, but a service error ignited another run of desperation. Orange made it a four-point set with an ace from senior Sage Musser and chopped the deficit down to three with a block by O’Quinn. O’Quinn then landed a kill, forcing another timeout by Seaforth to stop the bleeding. Out of the break, the Hawks called Forbes’ number, and she delivered with an emphatic kill to put her team up 2-0.

The final set flipped the script. Orange jumped out to a 16-12 lead, playing some of its best volleyball from the night. But for Seaforth, junior Sarah Beth Smith stepped up to lead her team back in it. With the Hawks down 18-15, Smith notched a couple of kills to make it a one-point set.

“I targeted this one girl on the other side that was one of their weaker passers,” Smith said.

Immediately after a timeout, senior Abigail Valgus landed a block for the tie, and the teams went back and forth through the 20th point.

“They’ve been doing the same thing all year,” Seaforth coach Scott Green said. “They don’t let being down a few points affect them at all. They know they can come back. They come back by making good plays, good serves, good passes and sets and kills, and I just come to expect them to be able to come back. So, I really don’t get that worried if we’re down by a few points.”

Valgus faked a set for a kill, putting the Hawks in front for the first time since the frame’s first point. The point also sparked a 5-2 game-wining run ended by a kill from Forbes.

“Coming up short the past two years, we’ve just had a drive all season to just play super hard,” Forbes said. “Obviously, we want to be back in the same position we were in last year and the year before that, the state championship, and it starts with the small points and games. It started today with the conference championship.”

Seaforth also swept J.F. Webb and Carrboro on the way to the tournament final. The Hawks, who also won a share of the regular season conference title with Cedar Ridge, will enter the state playoffs with a 20-4 record. In the latest playoff projections, Seaforth will very likely be the No. 1 seed in the East region.

As for Orange, which sits at 13-10 heading into the state tournament, it’ll likely be the No. 8 seed and become the last team in the East to earn a first round bye. The Panthers pulled off an upset over Cedar Ridge, the projected No. 2 seed in the East, to reach the conference tournament final.