OMAHA, Neb. – What a match!

The College of Saint Mary volleyball team gave the University of Jamestown everything it could handle Saturday afternoon.

The Flames lost a tough battle 3-2 to the Jimmies.

"We had the No. 2 team in the country on the ropes," CSM Coach Rick Pruett said. "I was proud of our effort. We showed that when we come ready to play and have high energy that we can play with anyone."

The Jimmies took the early lead by winning the opening set 25-17. But the Flames battled and won the second set 25-18 and the third – and closest – set 26-24. Jamestown bounced back to win the fourth set 25-18. Then the Jimmies pulled out the win with a back-and-forth, heated fifth set by a score of 15-12.

"We had our chances," Pruett said. "We just didn't get it done. Some things didn't go our way and we came up short.

"But I'm really happy with our play today. There really weren't many negatives."

Makenna Freeman (SR/Omaha, Neb.) paced CSM with 18 kills and 14 digs. Teammates Lexie Langley (JR/Fremont, Neb.), Grace Werner (SO/Omaha, Neb.) and Kamryn Willman (SR/Grand Island, Neb.) all added 13 kills, while Rachel Rosenquist (SO/Dakota Dunes, SD) chipped in with seven. Lauren Anderson (JR/Gretna, Neb.) tallied 52 assists in the match. Rachel Cushing (JR/Council Bluffs, Iowa) led CSM's back row with 35 digs. Langley added 14 digs, Anderson added 12 and Alex Radcliffe (FR/Sioux City, Iowa) finished with 10. Rosenquist had a team-high five blocks.

Jamestown finished with 68 kills, compared to CSM's 67. Perhaps the biggest stat difference was in blocking where the Jimmies had 17 total blocks and the Flames had seven.

Jamestown, who entered ranked as the No. 2 team in the NAIA, improved to 9-1 in the GPAC and 22-2 overall. College of Saint Mary drops to 7-5, 17-5.

The Flames are off until next weekend when they play host to Concordia University on Oct. 22. Junior varsity starts at 1:30 p.m. and varsity plays at 3 p.m.

*Before the match, three College of Saint Mary players were recognized for reaching milestones. Junior setter Lauren Anderson recently surpassed 1,500 collegiate career assists, junior Rachel Cushing recently passed 1,500 collegiate career digs and 5^th year senior Makenna Freeman recently collected her 1,500^th collegiate career kill.

*In junior varsity play on Saturday, CSM defeated University of Jamestown 2-0 by scores of 27-25 and 25-20.