OMAHA, Neb. – It was a showdown of two of the Top 10 teams in the country.

The No. 9-ranked College of Saint Mary volleyball team squared off against No. 2-ranked Concordia University Saturday in a Great Plains Athletic Conference match. The Bulldogs left the court with a 3-1 win.

"They're good," CSM Coach Rick Pruett said. "They're legit. They just have so much firepower. We never like to lose but losing to the No. 2 team in the country is a little easier to take."

The Flames started strong and won the opening set 27-25.

"That first set was a battle back and forth," Pruett said. "We won it and I thought we had the momentum. But then we started the second set down 6-0 and trailed 15-2 at one time. I don't have an explanation for that. We battled back to get back in the set but couldn't gain control. And then we started slow in the third set again too."

The Bulldogs won the second set 25-20 and took the third set 25-16. Concordia clinched the win with a 25-20 victory in the fourth set.

"We just couldn't get any breaks," Pruett said. "They scored points in multiples and we couldn't stop them. A lot of the stats were equal."

Azaria Green led CSM with 15 kills, while Kamryn Willman tallied 12. Grace Werner added eight and Morgan Ramsey finished with seven. Setters Miranda Ring and Lauren Anderson had 23 and 22 assists, respectively. Defensively Rachel Cushing had 24 digs and Krissy Radicia added 10.

"I'm confused how our middles keep getting triple blocked and are still getting kills," Pruett said. "But we aren't getting kills in other areas. I just don't understand."

The Flames drop to 3-1 in the GPAC and 14-2 overall. Concordia remains undefeated at 4-0, 11-0. CSM travels to Midland University for another tough match-up on Wednesday.

*In junior varsity action, Concordia won 2-1.