The Sandhills Community College volleyball team defeated Herkimer County Community College (N.Y.) Saturday to finish seventh at the NJCAA Division III Championship in Rochester, Minn.

In their trademark flair for the dramatic, the eighth-seeded Flyers earned a five-set ­victory over sixth-seeded Herkimer 25-20, 21-25, 25-22, 23-25 and 15-11 in the seventh-place match.

With the victory, SCC finished with a record of 22-8 on the season.

The Flyers dropped two matches Friday,­ losing to two-time defending national champion Brookhaven College (Texas) in its opening match before falling to Nassau Community College (N.Y.) in its second match of the opening day session of the two-day event.

After losing in straight sets to top-seeded Brookhaven, the Flyers put pressure on fifth-seeded Nassau, winning the second set, but came up short in losing 25-14, 22-25, 25-22, 25-23.

Brookhaven won 25-12, 25-12, 25-13. It was scheduled to play second-seeded Ridgewater Saturday afternoon for the national championship.

The volleyball team reached the national event in just the third season of the program’s existence.

Saturday marked the final game in a ­historic season for the Sandhills volleyball program. The Lady Flyers won 10 straight matches to end the regular season and capture region and district championships.

Contact John Krahnert III at sports@thepilot.com.