TIVERTON — The slow-starting Tiverton High School girls’ volleyball team eventually found its groove and defeated second-place Exeter-West Greenwich 3-1 Tuesday night on the winner’s home floor.

The win, Tiverton’s second of the season over the Scarlet Knights, pushed the Tigers’ Division Two-South record to 14-0 and clinched the South’s top seed for the playoffs. Exeter, backed by its home crowd, pushed the Tigers to five games in their first meeting. Tiverton coach Brian Goldberg hopes he doesn’t have to face the Knights again come postseason.

“It was 3-2 at their gym and their fans made it intense,” Goldberg said. “By far they’re the best team we’ve played. I’m scared to play them a third time. It’s hard to beat a team three times and we always have close games. It’s scary.”

After dropping the first game 25-22, a game in which the Tigers fell behind 15-3, Tiverton roared back for a 14-point win in the second game and then a pair of 25-22 victories to clinch the match.

“The first game, at least 20 of their 25 points were our errors,” said Goldberg. “They were errors based on shanked serve-receiving, missed serves and our hitting errors. The first game was very sloppy. We started cleaning it up toward the end.”

Exeter-West Greenwich struggled with errors the second game and Tiverton benefited by gaining 13 points on those miscues. Jill Cayer, thanks to sweet set-ups by Taylor Violet, swatted three of her match-high 10 kills in the contest. Tiverton also got six aces in the game, two from Shayna Carmichael and one each from four other players.

Both teams settled down and, for the most part, played better the next two games. However, the visitors were whistled a dozen times for net violations, including once in the fourth game which enabled Tiverton to take the lead for good and go on to win the match.

“It was an intense game,” Goldberg said. “Everyone was playing aggressively at the net that’s why there were a lot of net calls. Overall there was a lot of excitement.”

The second game featured eight lead changes and seven ties, the last at 16-16. Carmichael had a couple of kills at key junctures which kept the Tigers on top. Violet faked a set and tipped the ball over the net and to the floor to give Tiverton a 24-19 edge. But the Knights rallied to within two before Cayer, again set up by Violet, cranked the game-ending kill.

“Taylor’s a great player to have. She helps the hitters out, talks to them and helps them feel calm,” said the coach. “She can put the ball where it needs to be so our hitters have the best chance to get a kill.”

There were 14 ties in the last game, including points 13 through 19. Neither team could gain an advantage until an Exeter player brushed against the net to give the Tigers a 20-19 advantage. Cayer followed with back-to-back aces to push the lead to three and then the Tigers earned match point at 24-20. Exeter crept back to within two before the Tigers ended the match.

Rayna Perry had four of her match-high dozen digs in the final game, most coming on Exeter serves just about to hit the floor.

“I don’t think we do it without her as the rock in the back,” Goldberg said. “I don’t think we do this. If you can’t pass the serve, you can’t play offense. You can’t run an offense without passing. It’s a team effort.”

Violet finished with 17 assists and 11 digs, Carmichael had seven aces and six kills and Chelsea Cordeiro was 15-for-16 serving with three aces, two kills and two digs. Nicole Bartkowiak converted the most serves for Tiverton, 19, with three of them aces. Tiverton finished with exactly twice as many aces as Exeter, 24-12.