DOVER — It took all five sets to decide a winner Thursday night, but when it was over Dover High made history.

After trailing two sets to one, the Senators rallied to win consecutive sets for a 3-2 victory over division rival Smyrna High.

The win clinches Dover’s first Henlopen North volleyball title since 2006.

The 25-23, 24-26, 26-28, 25-14, 15-9 victory also gives the Senators the program’s second win over the Eagles in the last three meetings, dating back to another 3-2 win in 2019.

“I wanted it so bad for these girls,” said Dover coach Eric Riehl. “When I first took over this position, these (seniors) were the babies, they were the young ones coming up, so I just wanted it so bad for them and I knew they could do it.”

The Senators (12-2; 6-0 Henlopen North) have just one regular season match remaining against Milford next Tuesday night.

Smyrna (8-5; 4-2 North) will wrap up the season with a match at Sussex Tech and at home against Charter School of Wilmington.

“It feels amazing,” said Dover senior Olivia Anyanwu. “There aren’t even words to describe how I’m feeling. I’m just so happy for everybody right now.

“I love to see them all fight for every single point, even the younger ones on the team. We do have a young back line, but they’re out there commanding everyone around and it’s amazing to see everyone working so hard and to have the outcome we had.”

Anyanwu, fresh off recording her 1,000th career assist against Lake Forest on Tuesday, registered 56 assists, three kills and five aces.

Senior Kim Czepukaitis recorded 32 kills and five blocks, while senior Olivia Czepukaitis added nine kills and four aces.

Senior Kendra Williams finished with 13 kills and two blocks; freshman Elizabeth Baughman had five kills; senior Emma Hodgson registered nine kills, two blocks and two aces.

The first set went down to the wire and featured a tie score on seven separate occasions as the Senators ultimately prevailed, 25-23.

The second set was just as much a battle. While Dover took control early on with a 6-3 lead, the two sides exchanged lead changes seven times and saw 11 ties throughout the set.

Just when it looked like Dover was gaining momentum down the stretch by taking a 21-19 lead, the Eagles regained momentum to tie it up and went on to pull away with the 26-24 win to tie it up 1-1.

Smyrna’s Abigayle Osborne set the tone in the third set, starting things off with an ace. The Eagles quickly took their biggest lead of the night at 23-15 and appeared to be cruising to a win before Dover rattled off nine of the next 10 points to tie it up 24-24.

The Senators were one point away from stealing the set but Smyrna dug deep for a 28-26 win to jump ahead, 2-1.

Even down by one, Dover wasn’t worried heading into the fourth set, especially after what Anyanwu had to say in the huddle between the third and fourth sets.

“We got on the court and I said to everyone, ‘if we can fight that hard to come out of a hole, then we can take these next two sets,’” said Anyanwu. “I told them we needed that same energy we used to get out of that hole, and that I needed them to put it on the court right now. We all promised each other — we put our pinkies in the middle and we promised each other. And we did it.”

Dover cruised to a 25-14 win to tie things up 2-2 before completing the comeback and clinching the division title with the 15-9 set five victory.