LA VERNE, Calif. - Brooke McKee fought off a match point with a kill to tie the fifth set 14-14, and Stella Gajar had back-to-back kills to finish off the match, as the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps volleyball team rallied back from a 2-0 deficit to defeat top-seeded La Verne 3-2 in the SCIAC Tournament championship match on Saturday evening. 

Set scores were 16-25, 17-25, 25-21, 25-20, 16-14, as CMS improves to 20-7 on the year and earns the SCIAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship. It marks the 12th year in a row that the Athenas have earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament. 

The Athenas came into the match with its postseason hopes uncertain, ranked No. 48 in the NCAA's computer rankings (NPI). La Verne falls to 25-2 overall, and will advance to the NCAA Championships as well. 

A kill by Lauren Gott had La Verne ahead 14-13, and the Athenas called a timeout. They went straight to McKee off the serve receive, and McKee was able to put it down with a crosscourt swing off a pass from Samantha Riter to knot the score up at 14-14. 

McKee went back to serve, and the receive carried over the net, where Gajar was able to put it down for an unassisted kill. La Verne called timeout, and McKee's serve again forced La Verne out of system, resulting in a free ball. Riter put a quick set up to Gajar in the middle, and Gajar was able to put it down for the match and NCAA bid. 

The third set was tied 18-18 as the Leopards were looking to get a 3-0 sweep, but CMS started its comeback with a key 4-0 run. Phoebe Shorney started it off with a kill, and Shae Delany followed with an ace. A McKee kill and a La Verne error made the score 22-18. The Leopards got back within 22-20, but Shorney and Hayden Lin finished off the set with kills. 

The fourth set was deadlocked 12-12, before CMS had another key 4-0 run, with McKee tallying two kills and an assist. La Verne used two straight kills from Mya Ray to get back to 23-19 down, but McKee had a kill to go up 24-19, and another to finish off the set 25-20, sending it to a fifth. 

McKee finished with 19 kills and 14 digs, earning Tournament Most Outstanding Player honors.  Delany added 13 kills and 21 digs, while Shorney ended with 12 kills. Riter finished with 25 assists and Lin had 24. Gajar had six kills in 12 attempts, including the last two of the match. 

CMS will find out where it will go for the NCAA Division III Regionals, when selections are announced on Monday.