EG's Melis Kocak knows a lot about comebacks. It took one just for her to get on the court this fall.

EAST GREENWICH – This was the moment that made everything worth it for Melis Kocak.

Since tearing her ACL, MCL and meniscus on the second point of the first set of her first home game for the East Greenwich girls volleyball team last fall, Kocak worked as hard as possible to get herself healthy and back on the court. The start to this season hadn’t gone great with the Avengers dropping three straight heading into Thursday’s match against undefeated Coventry.

That streak looked headed to four after the first two sets, but then something clicked for EG. The Avengers scrapped out the third set, held on in the fourth and in the fifth, came back from a 10-4 deficit before sealing the 18-25, 17-25, 25-21, 25-21, 15-13 win that had Kocak feeling as close to normal as she’s been since that fateful day.

“Being forced to take that break was really hard mentally,” Kocak said. “That is the fuel that I use every single game, every single practice when I step on the court I’m always thinking I had to take a break. I’m so happy to be back.

“It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever gone through.”

Kocak entered her junior season as one of the state’s most promising talents. The Avengers were hosting North Kingstown in their home opener, which provided an opportunity to see both how EG and Kocak would compare to the state’s best program.

On the second point in the first set, Kocak went up for a ball and immediately something felt off. She walked off the court and tried to get loose behind the sidelines. Kocak wanted to get back in the game, but her knee wasn’t responding.

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“I’ve never really been injured before, but I knew something was wrong,” Kocak said. “When I was on the sidelines I was saying I’m going to play, I’m going to be in the next set.”

She wasn’t. She had torn her ACL, MCL and meniscus, which required surgery to repair. Long, extensive and sometimes painful rehab followed. Kocak did so with one goal – to get back on the court for her senior season, a goal which she achieved.

“The first few days were definitely a challenge mentally,” Kocak said. “Just now I think I’m starting to get back and not be as tentative or scared.”

In her absence, East Greenwich found out about itself in a hurry. The Avengers scrapped their way to a 5-11 record in D-I South and made the postseason, where they were swept by Coventry in the preliminary round.

With Kocak back, East Greenwich opened the season with three straight wins, two in league play. Three losses followed, with two of those being five-set defeats to La Salle and Classical, and Thursday’s matchup against undefeated Coventry didn’t seem like an ideal opportunity to end it.

“We were a little nervous,” EG setter Grace Clark said. “We’re on a losing streak, we weren’t hoping for the best. We were like ‘it’s another game, it’s fine.’”

The Oakers showed why they were undefeated in the first two sets with a magnificent defensive effort from second-team All-State libero Taylor Stevenin and a balanced hitting attack that saw Abigail Spadoni, Olivia Fornuto, Olivia Rollinson and Sydney Lang feast and take a two-set lead.

Instead of going through the motions in the third, East Greenwich continued to fight. Kocak’s hitting was a problem for Coventry all night, but Clark did a terrific job in balancing the offense. She fed Ella Johnson in spots, looked for Gabby Jackson on the weakside and hit Neala Bijari in the middle.

While Kocak’s injury didn’t help last season, it inadvertently helped prepare the Avengers for this one.

“It definitely helped us become a better and closer team without her,” Clark said. “Otherwise we just relied on Melis but now I feel like I know how to set other people on the court better.”

Of course, when EG really needed a point, Clark found Kocak. She came up with a big kill that ended a late slide in the third, putting service on Clark who grabbed an ace that helped EG close out the set.

Kocak dominated most of the fourth set up front, but with blockers now more than aware of when she was up front, Clark continued to find the open hitter. She hit Bijari for a big point to take a 23-19 lead and closed the set out going to Johnson in the middle to force the fifth.

“The third set we brought more energy and we were more there. Once we started playing good, we brought I all,” Clark said. “We just needed the momentum of us getting one good kill.”

In the fifth, Coventry went up 10-4 before an error put the serve on Jackson. East Greenwich rattled off the next eight points with four coming on Kocak kills and another on one of her blocks.

“When she gets excited, we get excited,” Clark said. “It brings up everyone’s energy so when I know Melis is going to get good points, I’ve got to set her because I know it’s going to be the best.”

Coventry won the next two points, but EG libero Jillian Tracey came up with a perfectly placed ball to earn match point. Kocak’s serve went over and never came back.

“Coming off the tough losses, I think it was a really big mental battle,” Kocak said. “I’m really proud of how we showed up as a team and how we played through it.”

Kocak finished the night with 23 kills and six blocks and a starting to feel that sense of normalcy, something that hasn’t happened since the injury. She still wears a bulky brace on her left knee, but hopes that’ll be coming off soon.

“I’m used to being an athlete. Being just a student, I felt like everyone else but I really learned a lot about myself in that process,” Kocak said. “It was a really hard year and I can’t believe how far I’ve come.”

Coventry also earned an education on Thursday, as the loss was a quick reminder that being undefeated and staying that way are two different things.

Ultimately, the Oakers were undone by their inconsistency. When they were playing their best, East Greenwich couldn’t keep up. When they weren’t, EG owned the floor. There was no middle ground for Coventry, at least not on this night.

“The lows got low. We need to bring each other up as a team,” Stevenin said. “We do well when we balance our good energy off of each other and I think that’s what we need to find more of in games like this.”

The early-season loss is just that. Coventry remains in first place in the Division I-B standings, but next week will provide a much larger test playing North Kingstown and La Salle, with games against Prout and South Kingstown not that far behind.

“We needed this game tonight to know what we have to work on and get better,” Stevenin said. “… I’m hopeful. We’re going to learn how to push as a team and we’re going to learn how to mentally prepare and push through. I don’t think our problem is skill, it’s our mental game.”

East Greenwich hopes Thursday straightens out its mental game. The losing streak is over. Now the Avengers have to prepare for Portsmouth next Wednesday, which is followed by a home game against defending state champ South Kingstown two days later.

“I feel like this game might prove something to us,” Clark said. “It will make us better and say ‘wow, we’re actually good’ and we might beat some other teams.”

“People definitely need to start looking out for us,” Kocak said. “We’re really scrappy. Mentally we have some challenges, but when we play as a team I think we’re a contender for states this year.”

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Back after knee injury, Kocak helps EG girls volleyball top Coventry