BALTIMORE – Ciarra Bockstie had a team-high 11 kills, including the match-clincher in the fifth set, as Notre Dame of Maryland University knocked off Cairn in a five-set thriller at MBK Sports Complex in Thursday night's Colonial States Athletic Conference semifinal. Set scores were 22-25, 25-19, 25-20, 11-25, 15-10.

The Gators (17-7) win for a 15th time in their past 16 matches and advance to the CSAC final for a fourth-consecutive season. They will travel to No. 1 seed Cedar Crest for this year's championship match at 12 p.m. on Saturday.

After Cairn (18-6) completed a dominant fourth set to extend the match, the visitors jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the final frame. A kill by Natalie Newton, though, began a decisive 10-1 stretch which put NDMU in front for good. Newton, who finished with a team-best 18 assists, set up kills by Gabbi Taganas, Emma Mueller and Bockstie for NDMU's final three points.

Bockstie, who also delivered the clinching point in the second set for the Gators, hit .226 while reaching double figures in kills for a third time this season, and she matched a career-high with seven blocks at the net.

Paulina Hernandez and Jade Stewart had 29 and 26 digs, respectively, to lead NDMU's defensive effort. The home side also finished with a 16-9 edge in aces, led by five from Mueller and four each from Hernandez and Newton.

Taganas followed Bockstie with seven kills, while Stewart had six and Mueller and Rosemary O'Brien finished with four. The Gators, who had swept their opponent in 12 of their previous 16 victories on the year, improved to 1-1 in five-set matches this fall.

NDMU and Cedar Crest will meet in the CSAC final for a third-straight season. The Gators came out on top in 2019 to claim the second of two-straight conference championships, while Cedar Crest prevailed in last year's final. Saturday's winner earns an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament.