The Lee University Lady Flames (31-5) claimed their second consecutive SSAC Volleyball Tournament title, and secured a berth in the NAIA Opening Round tournament with a 3-2 win over the Shorter Lady Hawks (27-9) on Saturday afternoon.

The Lady Flames took control of the opening set from the start winning it 25-17, and it looked like they might breeze to another title early in the second set, but Shorter had other ideas.

"Shorter showed why they have been in three straight championship matches," coach Andrea Hudson said. "It would have been very easy for them to lay down after the first set, but they fought back very well and pushed us to the brink."

The Lady Hawks trailed early in the second stanza, with Lee earning a set point at 24-20, but Shorter came back to tie the match at 24-24 and force it beyond the normal 25 points. The Lady Hawks eventually won the set 27-25, to level the match heading into the third set.

Following a 10-minute intermission to honor the 2009 SSAC All-Conference teams, the Lady Flames came out for the third set on fire. Lee took advantage of Shorter's mistakes and hit .325 in the set to cruise to a 25-8 third set win and put themselves on the brink of a championship.

But again, Shorter battled back.

The Lady Hawks took an early 2-0 lead, and in set number four, they never trailed. They weathered several furious comebacks from the Lady Flames to take the set 25-21 and force a decisive set five.

"Shorter really played well in that fourth set," remarked Hudson. "They didn't make as many mistakes, and they took advantage of some of the mistakes we made in the set as well."

Despite falling behind early in the fifth set, the Lady Flames again turned to their blocking to take control of set number five, pulling away after the teams switched playing areas to a 15-9 win to clinch the match 3-2.

"It speaks volumes about the character of the girls on this team," said Hudson. "I'm so proud of what they were able to accomplish here this afternoon."

In the match, Lee recorded 19 blocks as a team, with Tournament MVP Kayla Carlisle in on 12 of them. The Lady Flames' setters, Kelsey Leffew and Gretchen Higdon joined Carlisle on the SSAC All-Tournament team.