Facing elimination in the Class M boys volleyball semifinals Tuesday in Southington, roared back from a two-game deficit to shock 3-2 and qualify for the state championship game.
The Wolverines will face the winner of Tuesday's Newington/Darien matchup Friday at 7 p.m. at a site to be determined.
Fermi opened with a 25-18 win in the first game, then outlasted Oxford 33-31 in the second game to take a 2-0 lead.
Rather than throw in the towel, the Wolverines actually gained momentum by winning the third game 25-20.
"I told them to be more aggressive, and they started being more aggressive in that third game," Oxford coach Jeff Giovacchino said. "That's when things started turning around for us."
A pair of kills by Eric Jensen late in the fourth game snapped a 22-22 tie and led to a 25-22 Oxford win, setting up a fifth game race to 15.
With the tiebreaker knotted 2-2, Fermi had two consecutive kill opportunities sail out of bounds, giving Oxford a 4-2 lead. The Wolverines continued to pound away, grabbing leads of 9-3, 12-5 and 14-6.
The Falcons came back with five consecutive points to close within 14-11, but Jensen recorded his 17th kill of the match to propel Oxford into the title game.
Rob Costigan had 29 kills and seven digs for the Wolverines (17-3), while Pat Cragan had 47 assists and 20 digs. Jensen added 10 blocks and 20 kills. Jason Mraz had 12 kills and 11 blocks, while J.T. VanKamerick had 11 kills and five blocks.
Greg Zaylor led Fermi (16-4) with 20 kills, 14 digs and four blocks, while Josh Cheney had 16 kills, 11 digs and six blocks.
