The Taylor volleyball team had its comeback bid against Lee (Tenn.) fall just short Friday afternoon at the NAIA Volleyball National Championship in Sioux City, Iowa. After falling behind two sets to none, Taylor rallied to win the next two sets before Lee ended the Trojans' season in a five-set thriller (25-18, 25-23, 23-25, 21-25, 15-10).

"It was good to see our team show such character and fight, even after going down two sets," Taylor head coach Brittany Smith said following the match. "I was proud of the way they worked together and represented our program so well. We were hoping to make it to the elite eight, but we have a lot to celebrate from this season."

Taylor, which advanced to Friday's match in the single elimination bracket as one of the top 12 teams in the nation, ends its season at 37-7. The Trojans advanced past pool play for the first time since 1997.

Lee advances to the quarterfinal round as one of the hottest teams in the tournament with an overall record of 37-5. The Flames have not lost a match at the championship in four contests, including sweeps of No. 6 Georgetown and No. 7 Columbia.

Lee looked to have control of the match early, storming out with a .378 hitting percentage and a dominant seven point win in the first set.

Even though the Flames cooled to a .229 clip in the second set, Lee broke a 20-20 tie and edged the Trojans 25-23 on a set-point kill by Stephanie Todd.

On the brink of elimination, Taylor grinded out a 25-23 win in the third set after out-hitting Lee .171 to .158. The Trojans' victory came despite recording only 10 kills compared to 20 kills for the Flames.

In another do or die situation, Taylor's offense came to life in the fourth set on its way to a .257 hitting percentage paced by nine kills from sophomore outside hitter Kelsey Pritchard.

After leading 5-4 to start the fifth set, Taylor allowed Lee to go on a 5-0 run to put the Flames up 9-5. A Pritchard kill temporarily stopped the bleeding, but Lee pounded their way to a 12-9 advantage. Jackie Geile had a kill for Taylor to make it 12-10, but Lee reeled off three straight points and finished off the match on a service ace by Gretchen Higdon.

The Trojans' comeback bid was led by Pritchard, who had a match-high 20 kills. Also with double figure kill totals were Geile (14) and Rachel Kizer (11). Sophomore setter Betsy Brown dished out 49 assists.

Brown notched a double-double with 12 digs in the match. Kizer was also part of the double-double club with a career high 19 digs.

Playing in her final match, Taylor senior Colleen Nelis played inspired volleyball with eight kills and five block assists. Fellow senior Molly Larkin closed out her career with four digs.

"What wonderful character we had in our two seniors," Smith said. "They were great servant leaders and they understood their roles. In true Taylor form, they allowed our underclassmen to shine and supported them while doing great things for us."

Lee was led by Milica Krsmanovic and Stephanie Todd with 19 kills apiece.

Taylor hit a respectable .216 in its final match of the season, but Lee had 24 more kills (78-54) on their way to hitting at a .227 clip. The Flames had 94 digs compared to 82 for the Trojans.