Groton — Olivia Nordstrom is one honest person.

Nordstrom, a Fitch High School junior, wasn’t sure if the ball was live or not when it ricocheted in front of her at the net and the Falcons trailing Waterford by two points in the fifth game. So she hit it.

Good call.

A surprised Waterford volleyball team didn’t move as the ball came back over the net. And the Lancers were stunned when Nordstrom’s hit landed at on sideline and was called in instead of out.

Nordstrom’s kill flipped the match as unbeaten Fitch scored six straight points to win the game and match 25-16, 17-25, 25-21, 17-25, 15-10.

The Falcons trailed 9-7 when Nordstrom had her kill.

Ask if she knew the ball was live, she said, “No, just that I need to (hit) it.”

Fitch senior Caroline Taber said, “It was super crazy. (I thought), ‘there’s no whistle. It’s still alive.’”

It was the second time this season that Fitch (12-0) beat Waterford, both times in five games. Nordstrom didn’t play in the first match and was forced into the rotation Wednesday because Mackenzie Aldridge sprained her ankle at Monday’s practice.

“That was a big point, wasn’t it?,” Fitch coach Steve Banks said. “When you have hitters like Jen (Severino) and Caroline (Taber) pounding some balls, we get into the habit of standing up before the play is over.

“She stayed with it, and that was good.”

Waterford (8-3) never recovered after that point.

“Play to the whistle,” Lancers coach Beau Lucas said. “They thought they won that point. We thought it was out; the ref thought it was in. It was the ref’s call and we’ve got to keep moving. It’s a lot to ask of any athlete.”

Taber took over after that point. She closed the match with four of her 16 kills.

“I’ve always just had a rivalry with Waterford every since I was little because of softball,” said Taber, best known as the ace for the Fitch softball team and the 2015 Gatorade Connecticut Softball Player of the Year.

“It goes all the way back to Little League. When I play (Waterford), I definitely get really emotionally into games.”

Banks said, “I told (Taber) during a timeout, ‘Listen, you’re physically strong, you're mentally strong. You can compete with anybody. I don’t care how big they are.’ She took that to heart. She caught fire. … What she lacks in her leaping ability, she makes up for her athleticism and her fight.”

Mae Sefransky had 39 assists and seven aces for the Falcons and Severino added 16 kills and three aces.

Vanessa Kobyluck had 54 assists and Mickayla Shelburn and Mikayla Tourjee each had 18 kills for Waterford (8-3).

“I was telling them in the last huddle, ‘it’s got to be 100 percent (focus),” Lucas said. “Tonight, we were 99 percent. It was that last percent, that little push (by Fitch) at the end, we let it kind of affect us.”

Twitter: @MetalNED