SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. -- Azusa Pacific pushed the No. 1 team in the nation to the edge of defeat, but Cal State San Bernardino survived in five sets (26-24, 25-22, 31-33, 22-25 and 15-10) on Saturday night to win the NCAA West Regional and advance to the National Championships in Denver, Colorado.

Azusa Pacific finished the 2019 season with a 28-5 record, including a perfect 11-0 record at home. Cal State San Bernardino is now 30-0 after being pushed to five sets for just the second time this season.

The Coyotes came away with a narrow first set 26-24 after the score was tied 15 times. They used that momentum to take an early lead in the second set and held on for a two-set lead after converting their 10th set point on a kill by Lydia Morohunfola.

The third set was the climax of the match as Azusa Pacific saved two match points to win the set, 33-31. The Cougars saved the first set point on a service error and saved another on a kill by Katarina Radisic to make the score 30-30. Aliyah Morrison got a kill three points later to make the score 32-31, giving the Cougars their seventh set point, which the Cougars converted with a kill by Julianne Miller.

In the fourth set, Azusa Pacific won five of the last seven points to win it 25-22. Miller got a kill to earn set point and then recorded another kill to send the match into a deciding fifth set against the No. 1 team in the country.

The Cougars won three points in a row finished by a Miller block to take a 6-4 lead. However, the Coyotes bounced back to win the next four points and never surrendered the lead after that. On the second match point, West Region Player of the Year Alexis Cardoza got her 22nd kill of the match to send the Coyotes to the national quarterfinals.

Miller finished the match with a team-high 17 kills with seven blocks in the final match of her decorated collegiate career. The PacWest Player of the Year finished her career as the PacWest's all-time leader in blocks with 465, which is 71 more blocks than the previous record holder. Miller also finishes her career as the conference's all-time leader in attack percentage at .390 in her four years at Azusa Pacific.

Bailey Henington had 23 digs against Cal State San Bernardino to break the PacWest's single-season digs record with 697 this year. Sara Wagenveld tallied 14 kills for Azusa Pacific, while Radisic had 15 and Annaka Jorgenson finished with 13. Mina Andjelkovic registered 47 assists, which was her second highest total of the season.

The Cougars' trip to the NCAA West Regional final was the longest postseason run in program history after winning their second-consecutive PacWest title.