Nansemond-Suffolk Academy’s softball team could not prevent Greenbrier Christian Academy from repeating as TCIS tournament champions on Friday, but the Lady Saints ended the week better than they started it.

On Monday, NSA closed out its regular season schedule by visiting the Lady Gators, who built a 9-0 lead through four innings and maintained it the rest of the way that day.

Then, the No. 2 Lady Saints and No. 1 Lady Gators advanced through Tuesday’s Tidewater Conference of Independent Schools tournament quarterfinals and Thursday’s semifinals to meet again in Friday’s final.

GCA needed only three innings to build a 9-0 lead this time, but it could not maintain the margin. NSA scored a run in the fourth, then piled on six runs in the fifth. Nevertheless, Greenbrier Christian held on for a 9-7 victory at Virginia Wesleyan College.

“We never really know which team’s going to show up to play for us,” Lady Saints coach Brittany Wilkins said. “We kind of saw both sides of the team today. We started off very slow, and they jumped on us quick, but we showed up and started to play as a team later on. I was very proud of how they did come together and string some runs and hits together, very proud.”

Nansemond-Suffolk’s 11 hits helped distinguish the game from Monday’s contest, when the Lady Saints managed only four.

Wilkins said what triggered the momentum shift on Friday was her players “kind of woke up and realized this is the championship game. It’s do or die.”

For the game, NSA junior Brooklyne Carr went 3-for-3, sophomore Delaney Taylor went 2-for-4, freshman Kelly Turner went 1-for-2 with two runs batted in and freshman Madi Wilson also had two RBIs.

In the circle, “Emerson (Puzey) definitely stepped up,” Wilkins said. “She had huge shoes to fill with Katie (Peelen) being out.”

Peelen, NSA’s 9-6 junior starting pitcher, was injured during the first inning of Thursday’s semifinal.

“She went in sliding in to home plate, tagging up on a fly and just hit the plate and her ankle just rolled,” Wilkins said, adding it resulted in a bad sprain.

Following NSA’s performance in Friday’s game, the coach evaluated her players, noting, “They’ve got a lot of heart. They want it at times, and I think they realized what they’re capable of. It’s tough to lose by two runs after putting up a fight like that, but I think we’re in a good spot going into the (state) tournament.”

The Lady Saints were ranked No. 4 in the Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association Division II poll that came out on Monday. They have gone 2-2 since then and have an overall record of 13-7.

A new poll was slated Saturday to generate the final seeding for the state tournament. If Nansemond-Suffolk qualified — and it should have—it will play on Tuesday.

“If we’re in the top four, we’ll host,” Wilkins said. “If not, we’ve got to travel somewhere.”