OMAHA, Neb. – In the first set Wednesday against potential national-championship contender Concordia University, the College of Saint Mary hit .356, got eight kills from Grace Werner and held three set points.
However, the Flames couldn’t convert any of them, and third-ranked Concordia went on to post a 29-27, 25-16, 25-22 Great Plains Athletic Conference sweep at the Lied Fitness Center.
“Two of our last three matches have been against No. 1 (Northwestern College) and No. 3 in the country,” CSM Coach Rick Pruett said. “I told the kids, ‘Again, it’s not a win on the scoreboard, but it’s a win for us from the standpoint that we’re playing hard and we’re playing aggressive. Those things are going to pay off.”’
Battle-tested Concordia improved to 17-2 overall and 10-1 in the GPAC, while the Flames dropped to 13-11 and 4-7.
In the high-quality opening set, a Werner kill gave the Flames two set points, leading 24-22. But a CSM net violation and an Ashley Keck kill tied it at 24. Werner’s kill gave the Flames a third set point at 25-24, but Addie Kirkegaard answered for 25-all. With the Bulldogs up 28-27, Keck finally closed out the set for the visitors with a kill.
Concordia hit .426 in the opening set to offset CSM’s .356.
“It was error-free volleyball,” Pruett said of the opener. “It was really good volleyball. Maybe the whole match changes if we can finish that first set. We were rolling pretty good and just couldn’t finish.”
The Bulldogs rode that momentum to a dominant win in the second, and then led 9-4 and 12-6 in the third before College of Saint Mary rallied. A 7-1 run pulled the Flames even at 13, and the set was also tied at 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19 before Concordia rattled off three straight and went on to close out the 90-minute match.
“I thought they showed a lot, battling back in set three,” Pruett said. “Overall, I’m still happy with the performance.”
Azaria Green swatted five of her 12 kills in the third set to share match-high kill honors with Werner. Green hit .348 while Werner terminated at a .258 clip. Elen Pruett was a workhorse in the back row with 20 digs and she added two aces. Miranda Ring had 19 assists and Kaitlyn Busby added 18.
The Flames return to the court Saturday in Mitchell, S.D., with a 5 p.m. match at Dakota Wesleyan.
