CHICAGO, Ill. – IU South Bend nearly went the distance with the regular season champs on Saturday, coming up just short in a four-set loss to Saint Xavier in the CCAC Women's Volleyball Tournament championship match.

After taking the first set, the Titans (22-7) fell in games two and three, but held set point in game four, looking to force a decisive fifth game for the conference title. Saint Xavier (28-3) closed the door however, scoring three straight kills to complete the double in the CCAC.

Hannah Marchand led the Titan attack, scoring 20 kills and 12 digs with a .400 attack percentage. Julie Brown tallied 19 kills, while Suriya Van der Oord picked up a match-high 23 digs. McKenzie Powell registered 46 assists with 11 digs on the day.

The first set broke for IU South Bend after a 10-2 run turned a one-point lead for Saint Xavier (28-3) into a 13-7 Titan advantage. Three straight kills from Marchand, Alexis Joyner, and Brown capped the rally as IUSB held a lead the rest of the way to a 25-19 win.

The Cougars would take games two and three by scores of 25-20 and 25-18, to claim a 2-1 lead in the match.

Five straight points from Saint Xavier gave the home team an early 9-4 lead in game four, but the Titans bounced back to even the score at 10-10 with kills from Brown, Amber Jacobs, and Marchand. Another four-point run for IUSB gave the Titans a lead they would hold as late as 17-15 before five unanswered points made it a 20-17 advantage for SXU.

Two straight kills from Marchand, followed by a solo block from Felisha Campanello gave the Titans set point, before SXU rallied to take the match three plays later.

Despite the loss, IU South Bend has qualified for their third NAIA Women's Volleyball National Championship appearance, and will play in the Opening Round match at a campus site to be determined, on Saturday, November 20.

The NAIA will announce the full 48-team field live on their Facebook page, on Monday, November 15 at 11:00 a.m.