MITCHELL, S.D. – When the heat was turned up on College of Saint Mary Friday night, the Flames were calm, cool and collected.

CSM rallied from a two-sets-to-one deficit and fought past Dakota Wesleyan University 22-25, 25-22, 21-25, 25-19, 15-10 in Great Plains Athletic Conference volleyball action at the Christen Athletic Center.

"It was extremely hot in the gym with no AC, but we just kept fighting,'' CSM Coach Rick Pruett said. "It was a huge GPAC win on the road for us. We had to grind, but the girls showed a lot of toughness.''

CSM improved to 11-6 overall with the win and 4-3 in GPAC play, while DWU fell to 9-8 and 3-4.

After squandering a 19-15 lead in set three to fall behind two sets to one, College of Saint Mary came out sharp in set four, racing to leads of 6-2 and 16-9 before forcing a fifth set.

Leading 5-4 in the final set, CSM got a kill from Caylin Barnett and an ace from Marley McMains during a three-point run for an 8-4 advantage. Caitlin McCormack later smacked consecutive kills for a 12-8 Flames lead.

Still ahead 12-10, McCormack registered a key kill off the block and then Azaria Green killed an overpass to give the visitors a match point at 14-10. And when the Tigers made an attack error, CSM was celebrating a well-earned victory.

DWU was rated 24^th nationally in the second poll of the regular season. In the third and most recent poll, the Tigers dropped out of the top 25 but were still receiving votes.

"I'm so proud of how we kept fighting,'' Pruett said. "We did a great job spreading the offense.''

CSM displayed a four-pronged attack of hitters reaching double figures in kills: Green (15), Madalyn Welp (15), Barnett (14) and McCormack (13). The Flames had a substantial serving edge with six aces and four errors to DWU's one ace and 12 errors. McCormack and McMains led CSM with two aces each.

McMains added 10 digs in addition to her serving, and fellow freshman Emma Martins gave the team a lift with two kills in four swings for a .500 kill efficiency.

"Marley's serving and defense were huge, and Emma's blocking and attacking were big in sets four and five,'' Rick Pruett said.

Kaitlyn Busby notched 34 assists and Kennedy Buck had 26. Krissy Radicia made a match-high 30 digs, while Elen Pruett had 24 and McCormack added 22. Green led the blocking department with two aces and two assists.

"Krissy and Elen were great in the back row,'' Rick Pruett said. "It was a great team effort and a big win on the road.''

The Flames are back in action Saturday with a 5 p.m. GPAC match at Dordt University in Sioux Center, Iowa.

*CSM dropped the JV match on Friday 25-23, 25-15.