CRETE, Neb. – The three-headed hitting attack of Grace Werner, Azaria Green and Morgan Ramsey carried the College of Saint Mary to a 25-23, 28-26, 22-25, 25-10 Great Plains Athletic Conference volleyball victory over Doane on Wednesday night.
Werner, a 6-foot senior, led the way with 19 kills and a .349 hitting efficiency. Green, a 6-foot sophomore, smacked 16 kills at a .519 clip. And Ramsey, a 6-1 senior, added nine kills with .450 efficiency as the Flames improved to 11-6 overall and 2-2 in the GPAC.
CSM Coach Rick Pruett said it wouldn’t have been possible to hit .287 as a team without superb passing from his back row.
“All of our hitters did a great job, but our passing was great and kept us in system all night,” he said. “That’s why we hit .287.”
Leading the back row were Krissy Radicia with 24 digs and Elen Pruett with 19. Miranda Ring and Kaitlyn Busby handed out 22 assists each for the winners.
Werner’s kill gave CSM the opener, and then the teams were tied at 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 and 26 in the second set before kills by Madisyn Havermann and Green put the Flames up two sets to none.
After a rocky third set, College of Saint Mary dominated the fourth, hitting .318 to the Tigers’ -.091 while also picking up its blocking. Doane dropped to 4-10 overall and 0-3 in the GPAC.
“It was a great team win and a good win on the road for us,” Coach Pruett said.
CSM returns to action Saturday with a 1 p.m. conference match in Yankton, S.D., against Mount Marty.
