WALTHAM, Mass. – Back-to-back! Bentley won its second straight NCAA East Regional Championship in a five-set thriller over American International in the Dana Center on Saturday night (20-25, 25-23, 25-12, 21-25, 15-11).

The Falcons advance to the Elite Eight for the second straight year, which begins Thursday, Dec. 12,  in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Their opponent will be determined after the eight regional champions are reseeded.

The teams split the first four sets to setup the winner-take-all fifth set. AIC won the first point, but the Falcons reeled off the next four, capped off by a kill from Elizabeth Blinn, to take a 4-1 lead.

AIC won the next three points to tie it 4-4 but the Falcons pushed back ahead with three consecutive of their own for a 7-4 advantage.

The Yellow Jackets got to within 7-6, but another 3-0 run gave Bentley a 10-6 lead, punctuated by a block by Lauren McCloskey.

The teams then traded points over the next four as Bentley led it 12-10. A kill by Sophia Poehlein, followed by a kill by Caitlin Wunder put the Falcons on the verge at 14-10.

AIC stayed alive with a kill by Aleksandra Lucic to make it 14-11. But the Falcons punched their ticket to South Dakota on the next point with a kill by Poehlein, assisted by Tory Vitko, to set off a celebration at the Dana Center.

The first set was won by the Yellow Jackets 25-20 but Bentley responded by winning the next two.

The Falcons took the second set, 25-23, and clinched it after an attack error by the Yellow Jackets.

Bentley then dominated the third set, 25-12, where it hit .423 as a team. It was close after the first 14 points with Bentley ahead 8-6, but the Falcons closed the set on a 17-6 run.

AIC took the fourth set 25-21 to force the deciding fifth set. The Falcons trailed by as much as eight points at 16-8 but stormed back with an 9-1 run to pull even at 17-17. AIC then took three of the next five to take a 20-19 lead, then won five of the seven points to clinch the set.

Rachel Vitko had a match high 16 kills, while Caitlin Wunder and Sophia Poehlein each had 15.

Wunder had nine total blocks and Tory Vitko had a match-high 44 assists.

Rachel Vitko, Wunder and Jazzy Burke were all named to the All-Region Tournament Team.