For the second time this season, NCF Volleyball played a five-set thriller with Ave Maria, but this time came out on the winning side as the Mighty Banyans earned a 3-2 road victory over the Gyrenes. 

NCF breezed through the first set, winning 25-15, but then fell 25-23 in the second set.

The third set saw the Mighty Banyans bounce back, winning 25-14, but the Gyrenes kept things alive with a dramatic 28-26 fourth set win to force a second five-set match with NCF on the season.

NCF fell behind 7-4 in the decisive fifth set but from there rallied to take an 11-10 lead.

Ave would tie the score at 11, but from there, NCF scored the final four points of the match to win 15-11 as Jayleen Santiago delivered a pair of kills, Wiktoria Telecka came through with a service ace, and an attacking error from Ave's Lucy Hudson served as the game-winning point.

Soraya Nacero led the Mighty Banyans with 20 kills while Telecka (18) and Santiago (15) each finished with double-digit kills.

Cecilia Soragna added seven kills, with all seven coming from blocks.

Four-time Sun Conference Setter of the Week Rafaela Domingos logged a team-leading 53 assists while defending Sun Conference Defender of the Week Maria Luiza Barreis posted a season-high 36 digs to lead NCF's defensive efforts, with  Domingos (19), Camila Bolsoni (15), Nacero (13) and Telecka (11) also finishing with double-digit digs.

The Mighty Banyans will be back in action Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. EST at Southeastern in a rematch of a Sept. 10 match that saw NCF take down the Fire 3-0 at SCF-Bradenton.