Hillsboro, Kan. - With first place and a KCAC title on the line, the Tabor College Volleyball team and Friends University delivered an epic battle Monday night in Hillsboro, Kan. The Bluejays defeated the Falcons in five games (25-18, 17-25, 13-25, 25-21), to open up a two-game lead in the conference standings with three to play.

Friends came into the match trailing Tabor by just one game in the standings as both teams had combined for just three losses in KCAC play.

Tabor, which had defeated Friends earlier this season in five games in Wichita, Kan., came out inspired and focused. The Bluejays dominated play, taking game one by seven points. But Friends turned up its intensity at the same time the Bluejays seemed to lose focus. The Falcons dominated games two and three by a total of 20 points.

With momentum on their side and victory in sight, the Falcons continued to control play early on in game four. However, Tabor, which has been atop the KCAC standings all year, roared back in front of a packed house. The Bluejays' play turned from lackluster to inspiring, taking game four by four points to set up a fifth and deciding game.

A see-saw battle erupted in game five. Both teams traded leads back and fourth throughout the game as Tabor and Friends found themselves deadlocked at 14, in a first to 15 win-by-two format.

Both teams continued to trade points in extra play until Tabor, leading 18-17, scored the game-winning point to secure the come-from-behind victory, 19-17, taking one step closer to the KCAC regular season title.

"The game tonight was a great win for us," said Head Coach Amy Ratzlaff. "After battling that long and hard it is so good to have a 'W' to show for it. The team came out focused and playing sharp in game one, but we had numerous unforced errors in game two that just took us out of our game.It took us some time to get our feet back under us, but once we cut out our errors we began to play more like ourselves."

Sophomore Tina Frick (Durham, Kan.) led the Bluejays as she racked-up a team high 17 kills, while seniors Ashley Cohlmia (Wichita, Kan.) and Carly Kroeker (Henderson, Neb.) added 12 and nine kills, respectively.

Tabor also received offensive contributions from sophomore Gina Hullet (Abilene, Kan.), with seven kills, while sophomore Mandi Phillips (Halstead, Kan.) added 52 assists to aid the Bluejays' offense.

Defensively, five Bluejays combined for 13 total blocks up-front while Tabor had five players register double-digit digs in the match, led by Phillips with 21, senior Andrea Batista (Hagerman, N.E.) with 18, Cohlmia with 17, while senior Erin Dick (Corn, Okla.) and Hullet added 11 apiece.

Tabor (13-1 KCAC, 16-8 Overall) will host rival Bethel College Wednesday Oct. 28. The Junior varsity match will begin at 5:30 p.m. followed by the varsity match at 7 p.m.