SEWARD, Neb. – Facing the No. 3 team in the country, the College of Saint Mary volleyball team certainly made things interesting on Wednesday night.
But Concordia eventually showed why it’s earned that lofty ranking.
The Flames dominated the second set to even the match at a set apiece, but the Bulldogs regrouped for a 25-19, 16-25, 25-14, 25-19 Great Plains Athletic Conference victory at Friedrich Arena.
“We actually played a pretty good match,” CSM Coach Rick Pruett said. “We battled and some people stepped up off the bench and contributed.”
After spotting the home team the opening set, College of Saint Mary (9-6 overall, 0-2 GPAC) found itself deadlocked at 12 in the second set. A Morgan Ramsey kill then started a 10-0 CSM run. Kaitlyn Busby served nine of the 10 points, recording two aces, while Grace Werner and Liz Henrichson smacked two kills apiece during that burst that pushed the Flames on top, 22-12. They evened the match on Madisyn Havermann‘s kill.
In the third set, CSM trailed just 15-12 on Ramsey’s kill, but the Bulldogs went on a 10-2 run to close out the set. In the fourth, the Flames got within 20-19 on block assists from Azaria Green and Ramsey, but Concordia (9-1, 2-0) scored the next five points to close out the match.
“We just gave up too many big scoring runs,” Pruett said. “Set three was a big energy-changer in the wrong direction. After beating them easily in set two, we just came out flat and it hurt us. Hitting errors were the biggest factor as we continue to kill ourselves with unforced errors.”
Despite hitting .323 in the second set, the Flames finished with 27 hitting errors to 38 kills for an .083 hitting percentage. Concordia hit .237 in the contest.
Henrichson paced the Flames at the net with nine kills, hitting .250. Havermann added eight kills while hitting .211.
“Liz played a good match and was our offensive leader,” Pruett said.
Werner and Ramsey pitched in six kills apiece. Busby and Miranda Ring handed out 17 assists each, while Elen Pruett and Krissy Radicia were the co-leaders on defense with 15 digs.
The Flames return to action Saturday at home with a 3 p.m. conference match against Hastings.
*In junior varsity action, Concordia defeated CSM 2-0 by scores of 25-21 and 25-12.
