"They wanted it more than we did." That's a statement that has become a tired cliché around the sports world -- unless it comes out of the mouth of the winning coach.

That's what St. Augustine's coach Edric Poitier said Sunday afternoon, after his Falcons survived a five-game battle with N.C. Central at McLendon-McDougald Gym to win their fourth straight CIAA title.

The finish was about as close as it could be, as the Falcons got their final point on a kill from tourney MVP Magaly Gomez, beating the Eagles 15-13 in the quickie fifth game to complete their comeback from a two games-to-one deficit.

The final score was 30-26, 23-30, 28-30, 30-15, 15-13, marking the first time St. Augustine's (25-4) had dropped two games in a conference match all season.

In fact, the Falcons hadn't dropped a game to a conference foe during the regular season, finally allowing one in Saturday's semifinal matchup with Winston-Salem State before getting a serious scare from the Eagles.

"Central was giving a lot better effort than we were," Poitier said. "After we lost those two straight games, I just asked out players if they wanted all our hard work this season to go down the drain."

Gomez, a junior from Lima, Peru, was named the MVP after posting 28 kills with 14 digs in the championship match. Katrina Johnson, with 22 kills and eight digs, was the other Falcon named to the all-tournament team.

"Our service defense was better in the fourth game," Gomez said.

"We're a great serving team, but we weren't at our best early in the match. I think that allowed Central to get a lot of confidence and play us a great match. Porche Williams is an especially good player."

Sophomore Williams, who was named to the all-tourney team along with Eagle senior co-captain Ayana Wright, led the Eagles (21-19) with 17 kills and nine digs. Co-captain and Chapel Hill High alumna Danielle Johnson-Webb added 13 kills while Brenda Brown had a match-high 15 digs.

"I wish we could have won, but that was definitely our best match," said NCCU coach Ingrid Wicker-McCree, who was hoping for her second championship. "If you have to lose your last game of the season, you definitely want to play like that. We're losing only one senior, so we have a lot to build on for next year."

Wright agreed with the St. Augustine's coach on her team's effort.

"We wanted it -- we wanted it bad," Wright said. "I think (St. Aug) expected it. The whole team had promised to get me a ring and they almost did it. It was a great match."

Added Williams, "I think St. Aug understood the pressure they had to go through to win. But we gave it our best."

Also named to the all-tournament team were Maribel Calderon of Bowie State, Alonna Marable of Virginia State, Kaneya Morgan of Virginia Union, Josephine Prince of Fayetteville State, and Kaila Quarles of Shaw.