The bleachers in Patrick Henry's new gymnasium won't last long at this rate.

PH's volleyball season is over, but those purple plastic seats are probably still shaking after a pulsating Northwest Region volleyball semifinal Thursday night.

Patrick Henry fought off four match points to force a decisive fifth game, but the comeback fell short as Osbourn Park stopped the Patriots 25-19, 25-21, 22-25, 24-26, 15-9 to earn a berth in the VHSL Group AAA tournament for the third time in four years.

First, the Yellow Jackets (24-1) will visit Forest Park in the regional final. PH (18-6) used its near-miracle comeback to ease some of the sting of defeat.

"We went toe-to-toe with them," PH coach Pat Sheedy said. "They could have easily just left after the second game. They played hard the whole time. They went after it. You can't complain if you give it your all."

The visitors from Manassas seemed poised to celebrate, leading 24-20 in the fourth game after a kill by 5-foot-11 senior Carly Fleming.

PH saved one match point when Kelsie Hernandez sent a kill attempt long. The Patriots then erased three more elimination points on a kill by freshman Liz Brailsford, and back-to-back dinks by junior Laura Jessee.

Osbourn Park coach Kate Southcott slumped lower and lower in her courtside chair with each lost point. When Jessee's second dink caught the sideline to tie the score 24-24, Southcott was nearly doubled over.

"I'm a little animated," Southcott said. "That's me. Everybody laughs at me on the bench. I wish they'd just let us stand up like they do in club and I could just pound my heels back there."

PH eventually won the fourth game when Brailsford smacked a kill through a double block, sending the home crowd into a frenzy.

"That's huge," Sheedy said. "That's almost impossible to do against a top-notch team like Osbourn Park. That's just not wanting to lose."

Except the Yellow Jackets had seen it before.

"In October, Mills Godwin came to Forest Park and we played and we were up 24-18 and lost 30-28," Southcott said. "We ended up winning that in five also. It's not a fun place to sit when you need one game point and you've got states on the line and you can't get it done."

Osbourn Park didn't fold. Leading 10-9 in the fifth game, the Yellow Jackets ran off the last five points.

It was Osbourn Park's second win this year over PH. The Yellow Jackets swept the host Patriots in September.

"I figured if they made it this far, that they definitely had improved a lot," We kind of went out there not expecting a better team. At first we played our game, then we started to slow down. At the end, the captains brought our team together and we started to play our game."

PH returns some talent in 2008, including outside hitter Jenny Young, who had 25 kills and 21 digs Tuesday. Fellow junior Laura Jessee had 13 kills and three blocks, while Brailsford added 12 kills.

Senior setter Kate Feldman had 34 assists, four kills and three blocks.

"I've never been part of such a great team and a great attitude," Feldman said. "It's been amazing. They want to start a boys' volleyball team. This year we really made them excited about volleyball, which is awesome."