SALEM, Ore. – The No.1-seeded Corban University volleyball team advanced to the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) Tournament Championship match after earning a thrilling five-set victory over the Northwest University Eagles (25-17, 24-26, 21-25, 25-23, 15-13) in the second CCC Tournament Semifinal, presented by U.S. Bank. The No. 1-seeded Warriors will take on the No. 2-seeded College of Idaho Yotes for the 2017 CCC Tournament title on Saturday, thus booking College of Idaho's ticket to Nationals with the CCC's second automatic berth.

Click the 'Play Button' on the photo above to watch video highlights from the win.

"The team knew this match would be a battle, as Northwest is a well-coached team with great players," said Corban head coach Kim McLain. "Our defense and blocking were huge in the final sets to help us get the win."

After the Eagles jumped out to an early 5-1 lead, Corban recovered from a slow start to battle back and take the first set, 25-17.

Set two was a tightly contested battle, with both teams matching each other point-for-point for the majority of the frame. In the end, Northwest proved victorious, winning by a 26-24 margin. The Eagles rode their momentum into the next set, capitalizing on Warrior errors to take set three, 25-21.

Not to go quietly, Corban made a late run in set four to claim a 25-23 victory and force a fifth set. In front of their home crowd, the Warriors outlasted the Eagles in thrilling fashion to take the deciding stanza, 15-13. The triumph marked Corban's third consecutive come-from-behind five-set victory.  

The Warrior offense was highlighted by tremendous efforts from Amber Parker—who led the team with 17 kills—and Demi Winters, who notched 10 kills on a .368 hitting percentage and seven block assists on the defensive end. Co-Player of the Year Alaina Gentili added 12 kills on the evening.

Madison Milligan and Cierra Leopoldino combined for 61 assists on the evening, with Milligan totaling 32 and Leopoldino adding 29, respectively.

On defense, Winters' seven block assists led the team, with Marandah Boeder notching six of her own. Haley Wells finished with a team-best 25 digs in the victory.

As a team, the Warriors totaled 13.5 blocks in the strong defensive effort.

For Northwest, Sarah Warner led the offense with a team-best 18 kills, and Keann White tallied an additional 10 kills. Morgan Pilon dished out 45 assists in the match.  

On the defensive end, three Eagle players had at least 10 digs, with Libero of the Year Alysanne Van Dyke (17), Amanda Waterman (11), and Pilon (10) leading the charge. Northwest also played well at the net, tallying 11 blocks as a team, highlighted by a team-best five block assists from Mattie Jo Johnson.  

No. 21-ranked Northwest will now hope to receive an at-large bid to the NAIA National Tournament, with the qualifying teams being announced on Monday.  

The win sets up a showdown between the top two teams in the conference, which will battle it out for the CCC Tournament title. Because Corban already earned the conference's first automatic bid to the NAIA National Tournament via winning the regular-season title, College of Idaho has earned the conference's second automatic berth to the National Tournament.

Saturday's title match is set to begin at 3 p.m. in the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center.