Challenged for the first time in postseason, wobbled, improbably, by losing a two-games-to-none advantage, the Oaks Christian School boys' volleyball team dug deep for a winning intangible Wednesday night.

A champion's grit.

"Definitely. That was it," said junior opposite Blake Fol. "We've been through this. We've been here before. That was the difference when we needed it tonight."

Top-seeded Oaks Christian needed every bit of its experience, heart, resilience and trademark team balance to survive a withering test from Norco and move onto its ultimate quest.

Fol collected 18 kills, including two cruical spikes in the winner-take-all Game 5, Paul Peterson had 13 kills and Ryan Schiedermayer notched 56 assists as the Lions hung on for a 25-23, 25-22, 25-27, 23-25, 15-12 victory over visiting Norco in the semifinals of the CIF-Southern Section Division IV playoffs at Oaks Christian School.

If the method was different with Oaks Christian losing its first two games in postseason in two seasons the destination is familiar.

The Lions will play for their third successive Division IV championship when they take on Mayfair High in Saturday's title match at 9:30 a.m. at Cerritos College.

"Maybe we'll find a way to take the lead early in games," said Oaks Christian coach George Hees. "Maybe that way the coach won't have a heart attack."

Nothing came easy for the Lions, their coach and their fans in Wednesday's semfinal.

Oaks Christian (22-2) won the first two games, but only after rallying in both games. The Lions trailed 19-14 in Game 1, before posting a 25-23 win.

They fell behind 16-14 in Game 2, before coming back for a 25-22 verdict.

In the next two games, there was no comeback.

"They really kept us on our heels the whole match," said Hees. "It really was grit and heart that allowed us to win this."

Schiedermayer praised the opponent.

"I really have to give them all the credit," he said. "They played with a lot of heart. They played great defense. They did all the things we're used to doing."

By Game 5, knotted at 2-2, Norco had the momentum, too.

The Cougars used it to build a 3-0 lead, and still held an edge of 9-7 before Oaks Christian used a kill by Peterson and a block by Schiedermayer to seize a 10-9 lead.

Tied at 12-12, Fol came through for the Lions. He executed back-to-back kills to open the lead to 14-12.

The Cougars banged one final shot into the net to seal the verdict.

"I was so excited, but we had to act like we've been here before," said Fol. "We had to count on our experience to pull us through."

Norco, which ends its season at 17-4, was led by Jake Celestin with 18 kills and Taylor Sander with 12 kills.

Dalton Gerlach added 12 kills for Oaks Christian.