Staff photo/ Brian Yauger The Maplewood Rockets celebrate during the fifth set of Thursday's comeback victory over Chalker.

MECCA — Going into Thursday’s game, Chalker and Maplewood were both undefeated. Someone had to leave the gym with a blemish on their record.

After five sets of back-and-forth action, when the dust finally settled, it was the Rockets who remained unscathed after winning three-straight sets to cap off the comeback.

“I know what this team is capable of. I was really upset the first two sets, because we weren’t playing what we were capable of,” Maplewood coach Christen Clemson said. “I’ve seen what they can do. I’ve seen in practice I’ve seen in scrimmages what they can do, and I just wanted to see them play like that win or lose. Chalker’s improvement over the last five years has been nothing short of astounding, and I want to give (Wildcats coach) Sarah (Brown) all the credit for that, because that team is a team to be reckoned with.”

The Rockets had to weather that storm as Chalker took the first two sets, 25-17 and 25-22, holding the lead for most of both.

Maplewood wasn’t going to go away easily though. Down by two sets, the Rockets stormed out in the third, taking a commanding lead. Chalker rallied back and gave Maplewood a scare, but the Rockets held on to win, 25-20.

That momentum continued into the fourth set, where Maplewood fended off Chalker once again, 25-18, to force a decisive fifth set.

Despite the momentum, Clemson was worried until the Rockets scored the game-winning point in the fifth set, downing Chalker 15-7 in the final set.

“I was worried through point 15, I won’t even lie to you, because a good team like hers comes back, they don’t give up,” Clemson said. “They don’t just roll over and play dead. They will fight until they are bleeding on the court.”

Chalker falls to 5-1 on the season.

Despite being young, the Wildcats have shown a lot of promise early in the season.

“It’s been a really, really good season,” Brown said. “We have a very young team. We have sophomores and juniors and we’ve done all this. We lost nine seniors last year, so I’m very, very proud to come in here (and battle.) It didn’t go how we wanted to, but we fought and if we lose in five sets, we’ll take it.”

Both teams continue on in league play in their next matchup.

The Wildcats welcome Grand Valley to Southington on Monday.

For a young team, this game served as a valuable lesson. Against the Mustangs on Monday, Brown wants to see those lessons put into action.

“(I want them to know) that they can do it,” she said. “It’s just believing that they can do it and fighting.”

Maplewood hosts Badger tonight at 7 p.m.