Despite letting the first set slip away, the Sea Lions fought No. 12-seed Olivet Nazarene University for five sets for a 3-2 victory (19-25, 31-29, 26-24, 23-25 and 15-13) in pool play action at the NAIA National Tournament.

The No. 15-ranked Sea Lions have won two consecutive matches in nationals, putting them at 21-11 on the season. PLNU swept ONU 3-0 earlier this season but it was obvious from the start that things were going to be different Tuesday.  
 
The Sea Lions led early in the first set, but ONU caught up at 10-10. The teams traded points up to 15-15 before Olivet got the upper hand, eventually building its lead to six before the match ended on a PLNU attack error.
 
The second set was another close contest, and with a 20-16 lead the Sea Lions were ready to even things up at one set apiece. But the Lady Tigers didn't give up without a fight, chasing PLNU up to six extra points before Tabitha Henken put the set away.
 
The Sea Lions held on to their slight edge in the third; however, in the face of the PLNU's first set-point, ONU's Stephanie Smith blasted off one of her 14 kills to tie it up 24-24. Alyssa Pitkin and Henken teamed up for a pair of kills to give the Sea Lions a 2-1 lead.
 
The Lady Tigers weren't done, pushing the match to a fifth set with a tight 25-23 victory in the fourth.
 
PLNU picked up the first three points, and built its lead to as much as four points in the final set before ONU caught up at 9-9. The Sea Lions had reason to panic when Sarah Byrne smashed a winner to give the Lady Tigers an 11-10 lead, but Henken and Pitkin had an answer. An error and three kills brought it to match-point for PLNU. A kill from Smith made it a one-point game, but the pressure got to Sara Byrne, as a final service error gave the Sea Lions the victory.

Henken, the PLNU kills leader didn't disappoint Tuesday afternoon, firing off 34 kills (35 percent) and contributing 14 digs to lead the Sea Lions in both categories in the come-from-behind upset.
 
For PLNU, Maddie Dahms followed Henken in the kills tally with 17. Next in line was Pitkin with 16. Nicole Eiler had 20 digs, Karleigh Kaczmarek had 17 and Kylie Morel had 16. Morel also had 49 assists and Natalie Hamill had 16.
 
Four Lady Tigers hit double digits in kills. Tara Schmidt led with 17, Sara Byrne had 15 and Terese Byrne had 12.
 
The Sea Lions next opponent is No. 1-seed Fresno Pacific at 1 p.m. (cst). Last time the teams met the Sunbirds swept the Sea Lions 3-0.

The Lady Tigers fell to 35-9 and will meet up with St. Ambrose on Wednesday.

-Nathan Scharn