It was an ugly start to the season. The Mojo went 1-5 to open the season, lost their first nine sets and were dead last in the standings until early-April.

Yet, they’ll be Omaha-bound when the top four teams in the league arrive in Omaha, Neb. for the PVP Championship, beginning with the semifinals on May 15.

They did so with a four-set win over the Columbus Fury where they won the opening two sets. They finished it up with a 25-21 fourth-set victory.

“I think in that moment, it was pure excitement, pure joy and just a breath of air,” Tayyiba Haneef-Park said. “I think we’ve all been holding our breath and been tense for a really long time and I’m just so darn proud of this team. In that moment, it was thank you. Thank you to these girls, thank you to the fans. Thank you to the experience, the PVF, all of that. We had a very, very rough start and a lot of people counted us out and these girls showed up every single day and put in the work and so again, in that moment it was like, here’s your reward. Here is the word. Stay on the path, here is your reward.”

“Hearing and seeing the crowd get so excited, that really motivated us,” Ali Bastianelli said.

They joined the Atlanta Vibe, Omaha Supernovas and Grand Rapids Rise as the other three teams who they’ll compete against during the Pro Volleyball Federation championship.

Atlanta and Omaha already locked up the No. 1 and 2 seeds, respectively. The three seed is down to the Mojo and Rise.

The Mojo are in control of their own destiny when it comes to clinching the three seed, which Haneef-Park admitted that they want the three seed in order to face the Supernovas over the Vibe in the semifinal. San Diego didn’t beat the latter in a single set, dropping all 12 sets, while they went 2-2 against the former.

The Mojo own a half-game advantage over the Rise and, thanks to the head-to-head tiebreaker, all they’ll have to do is win one of their two remaining games to earn the three seed. If the Rise lose their only remaining game, San Diego will clinch the three seed automatically without the need for a win.

With a 7-0 start in the opening set, it set the tone for the rest of the night.

“After our Grand Rapids match we talked about how blocking and defense is one of our strengths and I think we did that really well throughout the entire match but especially in the beginning of the first set. Our block was getting really great touches, defense was covering it and we were able to get kills in (transition),” Temi Thomas-Ailara said.

The Mojo hung on to win the opening set, 25-22, and after five lead changes, won the second set, 25-21. It was only the second time all season the Mojo won the first two sets of a game, and the first time they did so at home.

After a 25-19 loss in the third set, the Mojo came back to win the fourth set 25-21.

Thomas-Ailara led the team with 20 kills and Lindsey Vander Weide finished with 17.

Nootsara Tomkom set a season-high with two aces as part of the team’s 7-0 start to the first set. Bastianelli recorded two aces for the third time this season.

“It’s hard not to let moments get too big, especially in a sport where momentum goes back and forth so much,” Bastianelli said.

The victory not only clinched the playoffs for the Mojo but also eliminated the Fury as they were the final two teams vying for the last playoff spot after the Grand Rapids Rise punched their ticket to Omaha on Sunday.

“We needed one and San Diego has been home for us. We played really well for us and so they did not want to walk out of this gym without clinching that playoff spot and they obviously showed up this morning for work and they put the time in and it showed this afternoon. I think it was a team effort all around. People came off the bench which I think was probably some of the best serving, blocking we’ve had in a while but this was absolutely a team win and still that playoff spot,” Haneef-Park said.

Up next: The Mojo leave town early tomorrow morning for a cross-country flight to play the Orlando Valkyries on Thursday, then Columbus on Saturday for the regular-season finale before the playoffs begin on Wednesday, May 15.