SIOUX CENTER, Iowa – Near misses in the opening two sets ultimately cost the College of Saint Mary volleyball team a shot at a Great Plains Athletic Conference road victory on Saturday.

Dordt University wrestled away close wins in those first two, and went on to record a 25-23, 25-23, 15-25, 25-15 win over the Flames at De Witt Gymnasium.

"Inconsistency really hurt us tonight,'' CSM Coach Rick Pruett said. "We had chances to win the first and second sets, but couldn't finish late in either one of them.''

Dordt improved to 13-5 overall and 5-3 in GPAC play, while CSM dropped to 11-7 and 4-4.

There were 10 ties and four lead changes in the opening set. CSM tied things at 19 on kills from Caylin Barnett and Caitlin McCormack before the Defenders edged away late.

The second set also featured six ties, the final one at 21-all, before Dordt scored four of the last six points.

The Flames had their best offensive set of the night in the third, hitting .323 in the easy victory. In the fourth, CSM was still in contention, trailing 12-9, before Dordt ran off eight of the next 10 to pull away.

"Our blocking was good early in the match, but then we couldn't sustain it,'' Pruett said. "We struggled putting them all away tonight, which hurt us as well. We did grind and try to battle through, but just couldn't get over the hump.''

Barnett led the Flames with 11 kills, followed closely by Azaria Green and Mya Weber with eight apiece and Madalyn Welp with seven.

Kennedy Buck had 21 assists and Kaitlin Busby 17, while McCormack led the back row with 16 digs, followed by Elen Pruett (13), Buck (10), Krissy Radicia (9) and Busby (9). Green and Weber each had one solo block and four assists.

The Flames will return to action on Oct. 10 and 11, hosting Briar Cliff University and Morningside University at 7:30 and 5 p.m., respectively.