TUCSON, Ariz. — On Day 1 of the season, the LIU women's volleyball team pulled out a doozy in the desert.

The Sharks rallied from a two-sets-to-none-deficit to defeat Alabama State, 13-25, 19-25, 25-23, 32-30, 15-9, in the nightcap on the opening day of the Arizona Cactus Classic.

LIU led by as many as five points in the third set, but Alabama State rallied to take a 23-20 lead — two points from closing out the match.

From that point, the Sharks answered with five straight points to capture the set, with Allie Merz recording two of the kills.

Still trailing, the drama continued in the fourth set.

LIU again rallied, taking a 25-24 lead with three consecutive points. The Sharks also led 26-25, 27-26, 29-28, 30-29 and 31-30 before finally closing out the set on a kill from Amaris Smith.

The Sharks (1-1) then pounced in the final set, recording the first six points and never trailing.

It marked the first comeback from a two-set deficit by LIU since Aug. 31, 2018 against Montana State in Portland, Ore.

Smith, a freshman from Castle Rock, Colo., led LIU in kills in both matches on Friday.

She and fellow freshman Hannah Chappelle each made their collegiate debuts in the opener, a 25-16, 25-10, 25-18 loss to host Arizona.

Smith had a team-high eight kills against the Wildcats, then produced 24 kills against Alabama State, punctuated by the final point.

Merz had a career-high 46 assists along with 15 digs in the nightcap. Anastasia Scott had a team-high 32 digs in the victory.

"We are really working on being focused on the process," said coach Ken Ko, who notched his 99th career win. "I like how the team is starting to embrace how to push the limits of who we are individually and as a team. There was a much better adherence to our game plan, and when we battled being down 0-2, we showed how much heart we have also." 

The Sharks complete their stay in Tucson with a 2 p.m. ET match against New Mexico State on Saturday.