Staff photo / Neel Madhavan. Austintown Fitch's Kylie Folkwein (13) goes for a kill, as Boardman's Ava Gaps (28) and Ava Commons (24) go for the block during Tuesday's match in Austintown.

AUSTINTOWN — Just like its first meeting with Boardman earlier this season, Austintown Fitch needed four sets to dispose of its All-American Conference rival on Tuesday.

Despite dropping a tightly-contested first set, the Falcons rallied to reel off three straight sets to earn a 3-1 victory over the Spartans, kicking off Breast Cancer Awareness month with its annual Pink Out Night.

“Honestly, it’s just controlling our own side and eliminating those unforced errors,” Fitch head coach Kylee Herberger said of her team’s comeback. “We had a lot of errors in that first set, so (it was just about) controlling those and controlling the tempo of the game.”

Fitch still sits atop the AAC with an unbeaten record at 5-0. With that, the Falcons know they have a target on their back as they continue through the second round of conference play during the next few matches.

“I think it’s just the fact that everybody wants us right now going into the second round of conference,” Herberger said. “People are definitely going to bring their best against us, and that’s what Boardman did in the first set. They brought their best.”

Things were tight early in the first set, as neither team could put together a consistent stretch of points to pull ahead.

However, with the first set tied 13-13, Fitch went on a 5-0 run to finally create some separation. But the Spartans responded with a 6-1 run to tie things back up at 19-all.

With the pivotal frame hanging in the balance tied at 23, Boardman strung together back-to-back points on a pair of Fitch errors to pull out the first set 25-23.

“We were just able to run our offense at the beginning,” Boardman head coach Rebecca Calvin said. “We played every point like it was game point. But right in the beginning, we were ready to play with them. We were ready to compete, and we did compete with them.”

The Falcons wasted no time in the second set, running out to a 10-5 lead.

Despite a brief rally by the Spartans, Fitch would go on to pull out the second set 25-20 to level the match at a set apiece.

“I think we did a really good job of adjusting, and I think our blocking did too,” Calvin said. “They have really good outside hitting, so just having them be able to adjust and pull our blocking in, I think it helped a lot.”

The third set began exactly like the second set, as the Falcons jumped out to an early 10-5 advantage.

When Fitch was in system, the Falcons were able to get the ball to their outside hitters Katie Wilt, Kylie Folkwein and Morgan Roby.

With that trio leading the attack, Fitch took the third set 25-19 to take its first lead in the match. Wilt, Folkwein and Roby combined for 11 kills in the third set.

“We do have a really good spread,” Herberger said. “We like to see our middles involved a lot. But obviously it depends on ball control. Our ball control was a little iffy towards the beginning, so we had to rely on our outsides. Honestly (setter) Kylie (Simons) had a great night, so it was a good night for (outside hitting).”

The fourth and final set was much like the third, as the Falcons built a 15-7 lead off their serving and outside hitting.

Fitch continued to lean on those hitters, as they carried the Falcons to the finish line, finishing off the set 25-8.

“I think we got a lot of our confidence back with our serves,” Herberger said. “So with that being said, we were able to create a lot of chaos on their side and force some errors, while controlling our side and controlling the tempo.”

Ava Commons led Boardman with 24 assists, while Maya Flores finished with 13 kills.

With the win, Fitch improves to 14-3, 5-0 AAC. The Falcons will continue conference play by hosting Howland on Thursday night at 7 p.m.

Meanwhile, the Spartans drop to 9-9, 2-4 AAC on the season. Boardman will also continue its conference slate by hosting Canfield on Thursday night at 7 p.m.