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HOBOKEN, N.J. -- Second-seeded Nazareth outscored Stevens 15-6 in the decisive fifth set Sunday to complete a rally that lifted the Golden Flyers to the Empire 8 Conference championship in women's volleyball.

Nazareth won by scores of 25-20, 21-25, 21-25, 25-9, 15-6 to win the title for the first time since 2013 and eighth time overall. The Golden Flyers (23-12 overall) also gained an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. Selections and first-round pairings will be announced Monday.

After falling behind two sets to one in a rematch of the 2017 championship match, the Golden Flyers staged a decisive rally by dominating sets four and five. Junior Melissa Newcomb posted six of her 14 kills in the fourth set and senior outside hitter Madison Joseph had five of her 17 kills in the fifth set.

"It was a great team effort," said Nazareth Coach Cal Wickens. "The girls showed great resilience in rallying in the last two sets. It was great to see the upperclassmen step up when we needed them to."

Tournament MVP Kelsey Milligan had 12 kills, including six in the opening set, to help Nazareth gain an early advantage. The Golden Flyers fell behind, but rallied to tie the set at 17-17. It was still tied at 19-19 when Nazareth scored six of the last seven points to take the early lead. Milligan had kills on five of Nazareth's last seven points in the set.

After Stevens held off the Golden Flyers in the next two sets, Nazareth never trailed again. The Golden Flyers surged to a 10-4 lead in set four and that lead continued to grow. Nazareth had 14 kills against just one hitting error on 26 swings for a .500 hitting percentage in the fourth set. Nazareth led 4-3 in the fifth set, then rattled off 10 of the next 11 points to take control. Joseph delivered all five of her kills on Nazareth's final five points.

Sophomore setter Jessica Barry amassed 46 assists and sophomore libero Savannah Bothner had a career-high 31 digs. Barry and Bothner each had two service aces. Joseph and senior Celia Cordero each had eight digs and Danielle Synowski and McKenzie Hart had seven digs.

The victory was Nazareth's first over Stevens since 2013 and will send the Golden Flyers to the NCAA Tournament for the 12th time.