DENISON, Iowa — The circumstances were different, but on Tuesday the Council Bluffs St. Albert volleyball team’s postseason push suffered an all-too-familiar demise.

For the second straight year, the Saintes lost in five emotional sets in a regional final, falling to Class 1-A No. 12 Southern Cal 25-20, 25-16, 20-25, 19-25, 15-11 at Denison High School. St. Albert gave up a two-sets-to-one advantage to Unity Christian in 2008 with a Class 2-A state tournament berth on the line.

“We played hard, and I know we left it all out on the court,” St. Albert coach Angie Lantz said. “We fought a little bit better team tonight. Nerves probably had something to do with it. But who’s not going to be nervous for a regional final match?”

An error-riddled final set cost the unranked Saintes what would have been their first state appearance. With the game tied at 7-7, Southern Cal rode a 5-0 run that included a kill off an over pass, a St. Albert miscommunication on a service ace and a substitution error.

Despite mustering four straight points to pull within 12-11, the Saintes fell following a lift violation and two kill attempts that crashed into the net.

“We played with a lot of heart,” St. Albert senior Marissa Moran said. “We left it all out there and did everything we could, but we just didn’t finish the job like we wanted to.

“Our goal was to not play with any nerves, but I think we still had some.”

The Saintes (24-14) showed symptoms in the early going. They led for a combined total of one point in the first two games — 16-15 in the first set — and uncharacteristically struggled with passing, particularly against serves.

What’s more, Southern Cal collected four blocks in that span, showcasing a front row as stingy as any St. Albert had faced all season.

But fortunes changed in set three, even after the Lady Mustangs (25-10) jumped out to a 17-14 lead. The Saintes rattled off a nine-point run that included two kills and two aces from Moran.

Senior Amber Thomas combined with freshman Nevada Meis to slam a block on the clinching point.

The fourth set was all St. Albert, which jumped out to a 10-4 lead and never allowed the Lady Mustangs to get closer than three points. But Southern Cal took four of the game’s final six points to boost its confidence heading into the winner-take-all fifth.

The Lady Mustangs were led by seniors Cassie Schleisman and Megan Monahan with 13 kills apiece. The Twin Lakes Conference tournament champions also collected eight total blocks en route to qualifying for their first state tournament since 2007.

For St. Albert, Moran finished with a match-high 21 kills. Fellow seniors Amber Thomas and Dani McGinn added seven and four kills, respectively.

Southern Cal (25-10)................25 25 20 19 15

C.B. St. Albert (24-14)...................20 16 25 25 11

SC (kills-aces-blocks): Kendra Jacobs 2-1-0, Cassie Schleisman 13-3-1, Chelsey Henkenius 7-3-0, Maria Miller 0-0-0, Taylor Kelly 4-3-4, Kiana Case 4-3-0, Megan Monahan 13-1-3.

SA: Dani McGinn 4-1-1, Marissa Moran 21-2-1, Molly Arnold 4-0-1, Alli Johnson 0-5-0, Jamie Nielsen 0-1-0, Felicia Campbell 3-0-0, Amber Thomas 7-0-1, Karissa Herrington 1-0-0, Nevada Meis 5-0-2.

Set assists: SC, Case 28, Jacobs 5, Henkenius 1. SA, Johnson 11, Arnold 10, Moran 2, Meis 1, Thomas 1.