MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (November 10, 2017) – During the two regular-season meetings between the two teams, the Warriors needed five sets in both matches to pull out the victory, but in Friday's Sun Conference Tournament semifinal matchup, the task seemed to go a little smoother for the second-seeded Webber International University women's volleyball team as it defeated third-seeded Southeastern University 3-0 (25-19, 28-26, 25-16) inside the Fernandez Family Center.

The win propelled Webber (24-5) into The Sun Conference Tournament championship match, where it will meet top-seeded and TSC regular-season champion Saint Thomas University (19-11) at 2 p.m. on Saturday, November 11. The Warriors and the Bobcats split their previous two meetings during the regular season as Saint Thomas became the first team to hand the Warriors a conference loss, and then Webber did the same to the Bobcats in a tight five-set victory with only a small handful of conference matches remaining in the season.

In the pivotal second set against Southeastern (23-8) on Friday, Webber led 24-22 before the Fire answered with two points to tie it. From there, the Warriors earned match-point twice, but were unable to secure the winning point until a third time facing match-point when Brianna Roque and Carlee Baxter combined on a block to finish off the back-and-forth set.

"Emotions and anticipation were high for this match from the team," said Head Coach Lindsey Martin. "We definitely showed up prepared and let our emotions carry us in the right direction. Being able to win today not only solidified our spot in the conference championship, but also helped solidify a winning mindset that will carry us through our match tomorrow."

Webber led by as many as six in the opening set before the Fire fought back to within three at 19-16. Brittany Taksas and Baxter followed with back-to-back kills to hand the Warriors a five-point lead, an advantage they would not give up.

Baxter, the now two-time defending TSC Setter of the Year, led both teams with 40 assists in only three sets for an average of over 13 assists per game. The 40 assists were a new career-high for Baxter in matches that only lasted three sets. Southeastern saw its top two setters combine for only 28 assists.

Three-time TSC Libero of the Year Michelle Calderon was just as impressive defensively, finishing with a match-high 20 digs for an average of over six and a half digs per set. She was joined by Baxter with nine digs, Amber Lake with seven, and Emily Bowen also with seven.

Bowen also led the Warriors with 13 kills, while Cameron Neely was next with 12 and Virginia Salanoa-Sagapolu had 10. Bowen finished with an impressive attack percentage of .423 percent, while Taksas was even a little bit better at .444 percent en route to finishing with nine kills.

Last but not least, Roque, a senior leader on Webber's front line, finished with four blocks while Salanoa-Sagapolu also had four.

The Warriors hit a blistering .385 percent in the opening set, and were just as good in the final set at .382 percent.

Saturday's TSC Tournament championship match can be live streamed here.