Coe volleyball coach DeAnn Woodin was anxious to see how her team would respond after Wartburg rallied from a 2-0 deficit and tied Wednesday's match at two games apiece.

They responded in style.

The Kohawks regrouped and got a measure of revenge against the Knights, 25-17, 25-21, 22-25, 19-25, 15-9, in an exciting Iowa Conference match at Eby Fieldhouse.

Wartburg defeated Coe in the finals of the Iowa Conference tournament last year and had beaten the Kohawks in six of their last seven meetings heading into Wednesday night.

"They've had our number the last couple of years, unfortunately," said Woodin. "But it's one of those things, you have to go out there expecting to win. You have to walk on the court and have that confidence that you're going to beat them."

Wartburg (17-5, 2-2) had all the momentum after winning the third and fourth sets, but Coe caught fire and won the first six points of the fifth game.

Rachel Schaefer, the all-time kills leader at Coe, had a pair of blasts in the fifth game to make it 10-4, then Brianna Smith and Olivia Leisinger had kills as the Kohawks grabbed a 12-6 advantage.

Leisinger had another kill for a 14-9 lead, then Rachel Bosworth ended the match with a soft shot for the 15-9 victory.

Woodin liked the way her club responded after the Knights made a serious run at them.

"Honestly, it showed a lot of character from our girls and a lot of fight," she said. "We haven't seen that all the time this year in those tough times.

"They've got some guts, they've got some grit. That's one thing we've been talking about a lot this year," she said. "It's something that's hard to teach. You either have it or you don't. It's something they had to find in themselves."

Coe raised its records to 19-5 overall and 4-0 in the Iowa Conference.

Mackenzie Harbaugh collected 60 assists for the Kohawks. Schaefer finished with 20 kills and 21 digs.

Alissa Wittenburg had 39 digs. Ali Arns had 21 digs. Bosworth contributed 16 kills. Leisinger and Smith had nine kills.