As she has done to so many teams in her stellar four-year high school career, Xavier’s Kayla Torson broke the will of the Washington Warriors Tuesday night with a flurry of late-game kills.

Not once, but twice, the 5-foot-11 senior jumping jack single-handedly brought the Saints back from 20-15 deficits and then finished off with the final points in a straight-set 25-22 25-19 25-23 victory at Xavier.

“When you’re down, that’s not the time to let up,” said Torson, an all-stater who will take her talents next year to the University of Nebraska-Omaha.

“That’s the time to turn it up and go after it. When I’m out there, I want to win.”

And she all but willed her team to a win on their home court against a scrappy Washington outfit that’s getting better game by game.

Bouncing back from a 6-1 deficit in game one, Washington (4-15) was spurred by a spike from lanky sophomore Alanna Arrington to nose ahead 10-9. They seemed unwilling to let the ball touch the floor.

“We were getting to a lot of touches on the ball,” said Warrior Coach Amy Faulkner. “We were playing a good game on defense."

With Arrington posting another kill, Washington went up 20-15. Then Torson took over.

Hitting from all angles, she recorded seven of her team’s next 10 points, all but one of them overhead smashes that whizzed past the Warriors.

She also scored on a little dink shot that fluttered to the floor.

“That’s her leadership,” Xavier Coach Katie Bailey said of the only returning starter from last year’s squad. “When the game is on the line she wants the ball.”

For her part, Torson praised her teammates.

“Melanie (Wertzberger) especially did a good job pushing the ball out and set me up to put it down,” she said.

Saints rookie coach Bailey felt the Torson-inspired comeback changed the dynamics of the match.

“To come from behind like that was huge,” she said. “It totally changed the momentum.”

Riding the crest, Xavier (13-11) took another 5-1 lead in the second set and never trailed as it coasted to a 2-0 margin.

The resilient Warriors made a match of it in the third game, though. Again it was Arrington who put them ahead 5-3, but Torson’s two kills knotted the score.

With strong blocking from senior Rumer Weiland and kills from outside hitters Sophia Smith and Amaris Davis, Washington seized a 20-15 lead.

“It was the best I’ve seen us play side to side all year,” Faulkner noted. “We did a good job getting our blocks and sets.”

The multi-talented Torson again took charge, however, bringing her team back from high over the net and closing it out with an untouched tap beyond the Warriors’ reach.

“She’s tough to beat,” Faulkner said. “It’s hard to stop her.”