PENDLETON — Sometimes in sports the game means so much more than the final score.

For Starpoint’s boys volleyball team, this past Friday was one of those nights. With Starpoint up two games to none against Maryvale and leading 21-14, coach Kirk Spitler made three substitutions.

Jon Vitali, Brian Willms and David Ryer all went on the floor with the Spartans needing just four points to clinch the match. But the trio aren’t any ordinary bench players — Vitali has a connective tissue disorder, Willms has a prosthetic on his left leg below the knee, and Ryer has autism.

“Normally I keep 12 (players) but I kept 14 because they were guys who worked hard,” explained Spartans head coach Kirk Spitler. “David and Brian and Jon have always worked hard.”

With the game all but over, Spitler decided to give the three players some floor time he felt they’d earned in practice. But when Maryvale started to come back to tie it, some people wondered if Spitler was going to replace his subs with the starters to make sure Starpoint won the best-of-three match.

“We were up 21-14 and Maryvale came back and tied it up,” Spitler said. “Everyone thought I was going to pull those guys. I said ‘No way. Let them stick it out. I’m going to run with those guys.’ ”

The two teams traded points back and forth, with Starpoint’s substitutions making a few big plays to keep the team alive. Vitali had three digs, keeping the ball off the ground so his teammates can counter-attack. Ryer just missed on a serve where his foot was ruled over the line.

With Starpoint leading 26-25 they finally had a chance for the win, with Willms set to serve.

“He was waiting for me to pull him,” Spitler says. “I said ‘You have to serve.’ ”

The senior went back to the service line, while his teammates linked arms on the bench. Spitler said Willms’ eyes “were as big as saucers” when he served but he put the ball over the net and on to the Maryvale floor. Untouched.

“He goes and drops an ace on them and everyone on the team just went berserk,” Spitler said.

The big crowd on hand in the Starpoint gym exploded with noise while players surrounded the three teammates to celebrate.

“You couldn’t have wiped the smiles off the faces,” said Durann Vitali, Jon’s mother. “I thought they were going to pick them up and carry them out, but the grins on their faces was priceless.”

The point gave Starpoint the win and gave three players with unique stories plenty to be proud of.

“It was exciting,” said Jon Vitali. “It was a tense match and we got in the end and me and Brian and David got to help finish them off.”

Vitali played on the JV team last season but knew he wouldn’t get much playing time in his senior season. Still, he knew his coach would trust him when he was given the chance to play.

“I didn’t think he was going to take me out,” Vitali said. “I had a feeling he wanted to let us finish. We need to know how it feels to come back and do it ourselves.”

Vitali said he never looked at the score during the game, a sentiment echoed by another of the subs that night.

“I wasn’t even looking at the scoreboard when I made that serve,” Willms admitted on Tuesday before a match against West Seneca East.

Despite the ace and the praise of his coach, Willms is extremely modest when talking about the game-clinching serve.

“The serve wasn’t as good as everyone says it was,” Willms said. “It just went over the net.”