For the first time in program history, NCF Volleyball has punched its ticket to the Sun Conference Championship as the No. 3 seeded Mighty Banyans earned a thrilling 3-1 Quarterfinals win over No. 2 seeded Southeastern in Miami Gardens Friday.

The Mighty Banyans earned a 25-22 victory in the first set and then fell 25-21 in the second set.

All tied up, the third set saw an epic back-and-forth affair that saw NCF take a 24-22 lead before Southeastern used a 2-0 run to tie the game at 24. 

From there, neither team could take full control as both teams traded point after point, eventually finding the set tied at 36-36. Finally, it was NCF who gained the separation needed as an attack error by Southeastern's Yarelis Lopez set up match point once more, and Wiktoria Telecka finally ended the set with a kill off an assist from Maria Luiza Barreis to give the Mighty Banyans a 38-36 victory.

The Mighty Banyans opened the fourth set on a 4-0 run, but the Fire rallied back with a 20-12 run to take a 20-16 lead. 

Looking to avoid a fifth set, NCF punched back as it went on a 5-0 run to go ahead 21-20 and from there outscored the Fire 4-3 to win the set 25-23 and the match 3-1.

First-Team All-Sun Conference selection Jayleen Santiago led the Mighty Banyans with 23 kills and was joined in double digits by second-team All-Conference selections Telecka (21) and Soraya Nacero (12). 

Sun Conference Setter of The Year, Rafaela Domingos, set a program single-game record with 62 assists while Sun Conference Libero of the Year, Luiza Barreis, posted a team-high 31 digs, followed by Domingos (22) and Nacero (20).

Sophomore Abbie Hickinbotham served up a team-high four aces while both Abigail Willis and Cecilia Soragna logged a block in the victory.

NCF will take on host, top-seeded, and No. 13 nationally ranked St. Thomas in Saturday's Championship Game, which is slated for 4 p.m. EST.