Perhaps the start was less than desired, but the finish was just fine -- thank you.

In what could be considered an instant classic, the fifth-seeded Lady Cardinals outlasted fourth-seeded Salt Lake for a 3-2 win Friday night in the quarterfinals of the 2023 NJCAA DI Women's Volleyball Championship Tournament at the Hutchinson Sports Arena in Hutchinson, Kan.

As a result of the emotional roller-coaster decision in 20-25, 25-17, 28-26, 23-25, 16-14 fashion, the Lady Cardinals are headed to the semifinals for the first time in school history. Now 32-5, they are scheduled face No. 1 seed and defending national champion Florida SouthWestern (29-1) at 7 p.m. Friday.

The other semifinal at 7 p.m. will also feature Texas and Florida schools with No. 7 Navarro (33-3) taking on No. 3 Miami Dade (22-5).

Friday's winners will meet in the championship game at 7 p.m. Saturday. The losers will square off in the third-place game at 4 p.m.

It was a historic night in more ways than one for fifth-year head coach Aleah Hayes' squad. In addition to a first trip to the national semifinals, the Lady Cardinals also established a school record for wins in a season, surpassing the previous best of 31 by the 2014 and 2022 teams.

The Lady Cardinals are also assured of the best finish at the tournament in the 14 years of the program, topping a fifth-place showing in 2018. The Lady Cardinals were eighth last year in their only other appearance on the big stage.

To get to where they are, it took some doing – lots of doing.

The Lady Cardinals and Salt Lake stood toe-to-toe and went at it in the five-setter that took an hour and 39 minutes of actual playing to complete. Neither team ever blinked in their second five set match of the year against each other – both now Lady Cardinal wins.

Salt Lake jumped out to an 11-3 lead in the first set and never looked back, though the Lady Cardinals did not go quietly. They pulled within 21-18 late in the set.

Emma Bednarek kept the Lady Cardinals afloat in the set, collecting seven of her team-high 19 kills. The 6-3 freshman also had 22 points and seven blocks in the match.

Having found their stride late in the opening set, the Lady Cardinals maintained momentum in the second. Aside from a couple of early ties, the Lady Cardinals were in command.

The third set was a different story, taking 33 minutes to complete and seeing the lead see-saw. The Lady Cardinals finally put a 28-26 win in books on a freshman Neveah Donahoe kill.

Azul Pilahg reeled off four straight service points, including an ace, midway through the set to pull the Lady Cardinals into a 15-14 lead. Valentina Tijerina and Mafer Cisneros Salas each had a run of three straight service winners in the set.

Pilahg finished the match with 54 assists and 13 digs.

Salt Lake scored six straight points to close out the fourth set and force a fifth, rallying from a 23-19 deficit.

The Lady Cardinals found themselves staring a 5-2 Salt Lake lead early in the final set, prompting Hayes to use a timeout. They made the most of the brief stoppage and quickly knotted things up at 5-5.

The set would be tied eight more times before the Lady Cardinals settled the issue, putting together back-to-back points after the final deadlock at 14-14. Salt Lake had 11 service errors in the match, including two in the fifth set, the last of which set the Lady Cardinals up in match point.

Freshman Genesis Rodriguez finished with a triple-double for the Lady Cardinals with 16 digs, 13.5 points and 12 kills. Jade Rodriguez, also a freshman, netted 14.5 points, 12 kills and five blocks.

Donahoe had 12 kills and 10 digs.

Mafer Cisneros Salas had 19 digs to lead the Lady Cardinals. Sofia Velez and Tijerina had 16 each.

Florida SouthWestern was a 3-0 winner against the Lady Cardinals earlier this season (25-22, 25-13, 25-20). Of Lady Bucs' 29 wins on the season, 24 have been 3-0 sweeps.

The Lady Cardinals are riding a 14-game winning streak going into the semifinals. Florida SouthWestern has won six straight.

The semifinals and Saturday's final day matches will be streamed online at https://plus.espn.com/  (a subscription fee is required).