When the going got tough, the Georgia Gwinnett College women's tennis once again found a resolve and determination that brought its eighth straight NAIA national championship.

But the 2024 title will go down in history as being perhaps the most memorable of them all.

The Grizzlies rallied from a 3-1 deficit to score three consecutive competitive three-set matches to defeat Keiser University (Florida) in a 4-3 match on Saturday at the Mobile Tennis Center in Mobile, Alabama.

This marked the third time that GGC's national championships came down to winning the final match of the season.

The final two points were secured by seniors Iryna Lysykh and Stephanie Fernandez.

"With our experience and our players' pure determination, I knew they could win this match … Everyone on the team played their heart and soul out today. I'm speechless about the effort," said Head Coach Hannah Keeling. "I'm going to miss these seniors. Iryna and Stephanie had unbelievable performances to clinch."

Keiser won the doubles point and collected straight-set singles victories on the No. 3 and No. 5 courts to build a 3-1 lead in the match. Sophomore Versace Gatti accounted for GGC's early first point with a 6-2, 6-2 victory on the No. 4 court.

The tournament's No. 1 seed would come out victorious in the final three matches to defeat the Seahawks for the sixth straight championship encounter.

Playing in side-by-side courts, Lysykh and junior Justine Lespes rebounded from losing the first set to capture the second sets of their matches. Lespes captured the third set 6-4 to complete her rally for a 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 victory on the No. 1 court. A few moments later, Lysykh scored a 6-7 (2), 7-5, 6-4 triumph.

"When I saw Iryna turn her match around, I needed to follow her lead. I wasn't going to let these seniors down. I just went to another gear and willed myself to win that match," said Lespes, who earned the NAIA Championships' Marvin P. Richmond Outstanding Player award for the second consecutive season.

Lysykh added, "I think you can say that's the best match I have ever played. My teammates' energy gave me a second breath. I decided I needed to attack the situation and moment. I kept going forward."

"Iryna saved her best play for the last match of her GGC career. She played her best collegiate match and I'm so proud to be her coach," said Keeling. "Stephanie is going to do her part to help the team every time she steps on the court."

Those two victories tied the dual match at 3-3, turning attention to Fernandez's No. 6 singles match.

She came back from a 0-30 deficit to break Vanja Vidanovic's service game to force a second-set tiebreaker. The Grizzly player won the last two points of the tiebreaker, 7-5, to force the deciding third set.

Fernandez held a 5-2 lead in the final set before Vidanovic won deuce game points in consecutive games to come within a point at 5-4. However, the GGC senior was determined not to lose a second service game and completed the comeback with a 6-4 victory in the final match of her collegiate career.

"It is crazy to think that this was my last match. We played so many long points over the last two sets. I gave everything I had on the court in that match," said Fernandez.

GGC came out on top of one-point victories against Embry-Riddle University (Fla.) in the 2014 title match and Lindsey Wilson College (Ky.) in the 2016 title match.