Waterford — Jen Severino swears that she’s 5-foot-9. The Fitch High School senior will have to be trusted at her word, as she doesn’t look to be that tall.

No one on the Falcons girls’ volleyball team is tall. They don’t have a player whose size intimidates whomever stands across the net from her. They don’t have multiple hitters who are going to pound the ball with force.

What Fitch does have is moxie. It fell behind powerful — and taller — Waterford 1-0 and 2-1 in games Wednesday and trailed by six points in Game 4.

The Falcons kept fighting their way back and finally put away Waterford 16-25, 25-15, 18-25, 25-20, 15-11 in a wild match between two of the Eastern Connecticut Conference’s best.

“This team is resilient,” Fitch coach Steve Banks said. “These kids have been together for years. Playing softball together, they know each other really well. That and you add Jen Severino to the mix, it makes us a contender against anybody.

“Even though we’re undersized against any team we play, this team has got a lot of heart, and that’s what brings us back.”

Mae Sefransky had 44 assists for the Falcons (4-0) and Severino had 22 kills and four aces. Mackenzie Aldridge and Alannah Bunkley each added eight kills.

“We have a lot of really good athletes,” Sefransky said. “Every one can run down the ball. Everyone can jump pretty high, so that helps. Our athleticism is definitely key.”

Vanessa Kobyluck had 14 kills and Jill Sykora 15 digs for Waterford (2-1). Also, Haley Taylor had 13 kills and Opal Willox five blocks.

“It was a great matchup; it was a lot of fun,” Waterford coach Beau Lucas said. “Obviously we came out on the shorter end of it, but I’m really proud (of my team) because they did great.

“This is the test we needed early in the season. We needed a team like this to really test us and show us what we need to work on in practice.”

The Lancers had the match in control in Game 4 and, with a 15-9 lead, looked to be headed for a win.

Bunkley broke up Waterford’s momentum with a kill.

Caroline Taber then flustered the Lancers with her serve.

Taber, the reigning Gatorade Connecticut Softball Player of the Year, gave her team two quick points as Waterford struggled with her serve.

“We had a height advantage,” Lucas said. “The game of volleyball is completely decided on serving and serve-receive, and they served better than our serve-receive and they capitalized."

Bunkely hit another kill and another Lancers’ error tied the game.

Severino followed with back-to-back kills to push the Falcons ahead for good at 17-15.

“(Severino) can jump really high, so that makes up for her lack of height,” Sefransky said. “She can definitely read the court really well on the other side when she’s hitting and she has the ability to control the ball and put it wherever she wants.”

The decisive fifth game was tied at 1 when Aldridge went to the service line and went on a six-point run. Waterford made three errors and Severino hit two kills to give her team a 7-1 lead.

Taber had the game-winning kill.

“Our defense with Giulia Parker and Caroline Parker — the Parker twins, even though not related — they played really, really well,” Banks said. “And when you have somebody like Jen who can finish, it helps a lot.”

n.griffen@theday.com

Twitter: @MetalNED