Chemeketa’s Chelsea Fosback hits the ball over the net but Mykell Zimmer, center, gets enough hand on the ball to block it back over for a Southwestern point Friday. Also on defense for the Lakers are Maria Ciccarelli on the right and Jessica Bond in the back. World Photo by Lou Sennick.

Chemeketa’s volleyball team came to Southwestern Oregon Community College Friday night with a record that looked like a typo.

But the Storm showed why they’re now 43-0 on the season (8-0 NWAACC South Region). The Lakers did come back from a demoralizing second-game loss, pushing the match to four games, and nearly took it further before Chemeketa won 25-16, 25-5, 16-25, 25-23.

Southwestern shored up its team defense in the third and fourth games, and a fifth game would have been interesting. But Chemeketa’s powerful front line featuring Alisha Shigley, Porsha Ellison and Chelsea Fosback was just too much.

“They’re a great team, there’s no doubt,” said Lakers coach John Speasl. “We thought we might be the team to put a mark in their “L” column. ... We won’t see them again until the NWAACC championship. Hopefully we’ll play them in the final.”

The Storm seemed beatable at times against the Lakers, but not often. In the 25-3 romp that was the second game, Chemeketa looked every bit a 43-0 team. In the third and fourth games, though, the Southwestern squad showed it could play with the No. 1 club in the NWAACC.

“We knew they were going to play us tough,” said Storm coach Terry Mclaughlin after the closely-contested fourth game. “The anomaly was Game 2. That was not what I expected.”

Chemeketa took an early lead in the first game and didn’t look back. Southwestern pulled within 14-9 on a Maria Ciccarelli stuff block, but the Storm held a six- or seven-point lead most of the rest of the way. The closest the Lakers would get was 20-15 on a kill from Katie Jolliffe before Chemeketa surged to take the game 25-16.

“They came in strong right at the beginning, but so did we,” said Jolliffe, who led the team with nine kills. “I think we played pretty good. We could’ve won.”

The second game was a disaster for Southwestern. The Lakers pulled within 7-3 on a nice tip from Christie Wisel, but from there the Storm took 13 straight points to go up 20-3. Southwestern’s communication suffered and it looked like the team might melt down during the 25-5 loss, in which the high-flying Shigley was deadly at the net, tallying six of her 16 kills on the night.

But the Lakers bounced back in the third game, pulling ahead 11-5 and forcing a rattled Chemeketa squad to call a timeout to talk things over. It didn’t help, as Southwestern built its lead to 17-10 on a Wisel kill with the help of a nice fake from Ciccarelli.

After the Lakers went up 19-13 on a Jolliffe kill, the Storm looked like they might make a run, but Southwestern shut down the comeback, eventually winning 25-16 on an Emma Chitwood ace.

“To come back from down two games and win the third game, that showed we have a lot of heart,” said Lakers setter Jessica Bond, who had 24 assists and 20 digs in the match. “We picked it up in the third and fourth games.”

Southwestern’s third-game win set up a thrilling fourth game in which the teams tied 12 times and neither squad ever trailed by more than two points. Jolliffe came up big in the game with five kills — two of which, along with a stuff block, came in an early run that tied the game at 7-7.

Unfortunately for the Lakers, Fosback had a monster game as well, racking up four of her nine kills with a combination of power and placement.

Southwestern trailed most of the way, but pulled even at 13-13 on a Rose Mattson ace that got the packed crowd going, and again at 17-17 on a Jolliffe kill. When the Lakers tied the game again at 20-20 with a Kristine Kosinski block, things looked good for Southwestern.

But then Chemeketa turned it on, and Ellison slammed two kills and earned a stuff block before the Lakers pulled even at 23-23 with a Jolliffe kill. The Storm then won the match on a Southwestern service error and a solo block by Emily O’Neal.

Afterward, Fosback said she could hardly believe the team was now 43-0.

“I wasn’t expecting this at all,” she said of the perfect record. “We’ve just really meshed well together as a team. Every person on our team genuinely loves being a part of the team.”

Coming into the match, Speasl had said he thought his Lakers might be the only squad capable of taking down powerhouse Chemeketa. Some of his players still think it’s possible, should the teams meet again.

“We can play with them,” said Ciccarelli, who had a nice night in the middle with three solo blocks and an assist block. “We just need to be on our game.”

The loss moved Southwestern to 17-12 on the season, and 5-3 in the rough NWAACC South, behind Chemeketa and 6-3 Clackamas. The Lakers have two more matches to go — today at home against Linn-Benton today at 1 p.m. and at 7 p.m. Wednesday against visiting Umpqua — and in all likelihood the team will take either the second or third South playoff spot, and wind up on the other side of the bracket from Chemeketa.

Since it seems likely the Storm will wind up in the final, the Lakers are hoping they’ll get another shot at the No. 1 team then.

“We’ll just have to get them at NWAACCs,” said Jolliffe.

Notes: Former Marshfield player Taylor Scott had 11 digs against Chemeketa Friday night, while Mattson had seven kills with just one hitting error. ... Chemeketa setter Tabbie Smith had 44 assists Friday night.