LAKE WORTH, Fla. - No. 4 seed Pensacola State College swept No. 2 Gulf Coast State College on Saturday to win the FCSAA Division II/NJCAA South Atlantic District Volleyball Championship. 

The Pirates (31-3) earned the automatic bid the NJCAA Division II Volleyball Championships while halting Gulf Coast State's attempt at a three-peat while also becoming the first team other than the Commodores and Lake-Sumter State College to win the tournament. 

Saturday was the rubber match for the longtime rivals - each team claimed a 3-0 victory on the other's home floor during the regular season, but Gulf Coast State secured the head-to-head tie-breaker by scoring two more points over the six sets. 

On cue, the teams played an entertaining first set that featured ten ties and six lead changes. After a kill by Jaiden Rodgers put the Commodores in front, 23-22, Pensacola State rattled off the next three points to claim the first set. 

Gulf Coast State appeared poised to knot things at one set apiece, surging to a 15-10 lead in the second set but Pensacola State scored seven unanswered points and 12 of the next 14 overall to take a 22-17 advantage. The Commodores responded with four straight points of their own to pull within 22-21, but as it did so often during the tournament, Pensacola State called Anyaliz Rodriguez' number and the sophomore delivered. 

Rodriguez recorded a kill to put the Pirates back up by two then finished off the second set with another to put Pensacola State in front, 2-0. 

Pensacola State led wire-to-wire in the third set, the winning point coming on a kill by Paige Patterson. 

Rodriguez was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player and was joined on the All-Tournament Team by teammates Maddie Mire and Kiara Vega, who was named the FCSAA Division II Player of the Year on Thursday. 

Gulf Coast State was represented on the All-Tournament Team by Izzy Denton, Abigail Willis and Jaiden Rodgers. State College of Florida's Katie Keefe and Aleksandra Wrobel rounded out the All-Tournament Team.

Pensacola State's Pati Gandolfo was the recipient of the Kim Whitney Award, which is presented to the head coach of the FCSAA Division II Champions. 

Pensacola State moves on to the NJCAA Tournament, which takes places in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, November 15-18, while Gulf Coast State will hope for one of the four at-large bids.