WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The magical ride continues.

In what was easily the best games of the 2019 volleyball season, Florida Memorial University outlasted tournament host and No. 1 seed Keiser University in an emotionally charged match, winning 3-2 (25-22, 11-25, 24-26, 25-12, 19-17) Friday night in the Sun Conference championship tournament semifinals.

The Lions (21-10, 12-5), the tournament's No. 4 seed that made program history when it clinched a spot in the semifinals, will play for their first ever Sun Conference championship when they face No. 2 seed College of Coastal Georgia in the conference title game Saturday at 1 p.m. at Keiser University. 

Friday's match, which lasted nearly two-and-a-half hours, marked the third time this season that Florida Memorial and Keiser University needed to play a fifth set to decide a winner. The teams split the first two, with the visiting team winning, but the Lions won the one the mattered most – ironically, also as the visiting team.

The decisive fifth set had the back-and-forth of a vintage prize fight. Both teams held at least a two-point lead and each served with match-point multiple times. Knotted at 17, it was Florida Memorial that scored the final two points of the night – kills by Sammyra Albarran and Daphinie Correa respectively – to earn its spot in the conference final.

Lions first-year head coach Marrita Crockett-Moulton said the emotion of the semifinal victory surpassed that of the outpour after the Lions' win in the opening round.

"The energy in the whole arena was electric from both sides. And when we won that final point I don't even have the words to describe the energy in the building," Crockett-Moulton said. "Our fans erupted, my girls dropped to their knees in celebration, my staff and I were screaming. It's amazing what happens to you when you overcome the odds that have been stacked against you."

Florida Memorial jumped out early in the fifth, gaining a two-point advantage that is so precious in a winner-take-all game to 15. That two-point lead expanded to three when Correa scored a kill – putting the Lions up 11-8.

Keiser (29-10, 13-4) took the punch and responded with a four-point flurry, taking a 12-11 lead and momentarily taking the momentum from the Lions. The teams tied at 12, then the Seahawks took a 14-12 advantage and was serving for the match.

Florida Memorial staved off elimination by scoring the next two points to tie the game at 14. The two then took turns taking one-point leads – first FMU at 15-14 then Keiser at 16-15, and FMU again at 17-16.

The teams split the first four sets similarly, too.

FMU took the first set 25-22; the Seahawks won the second set – handily – 25-11 then eked out the third set 26-24. The Lions tied the best-of-five at two when Rachele Mancinelli took over the fourth set and buoyed a 25-12 win.

Macinelli had 16 kills and 13 digs Friday, Correa notched a game-high 22 kills, Dayla Hall recorded four of his six kills in the fifth set, and Francheska Rivera contributed 39 assists.

"Dayla Hall and Jesennia Bonilla came through big tonight," Crockett-Moulton said. "We needed a bigger block and attackers that Keiser hadn't seen before. And Rachele Mancinelli is our enforcer. When things get tough you can count on her to make a big play defensively or offensively. She is our tough guy."