Second-ranked Jimmies defeat No. 13 Flames in five

OMAHA, Neb.-- The second-ranked University of Jamestown volleyball team earned its seventh win over Top-25 teams this season, defeating No. 13 College of Saint Mary in five sets Saturday afternoon.

Jamestown improves to 22-2 overall and 9-1 in the GPAC, maintaining a half-game lead over No. 5 Midland (Neb.) at 9-2.

The Jimmies won the opening set but the Flames came back to take sets two and three before UJ rallied to win sets four and five.

UJ led 10-8 in the first set and a Kalli Hegerle (SR/West Fargo, N.D.) kill started a 5-1 run that put Jamestown ahead by six. CSM got as close 16-13, but the Jimmies took the next five points and would build as much as an eight-point lead before winning 25-17.

Set two saw Jamestown take a 3-1 lead with kills by Hegerle and Aleah Zieske (SO/Spicer, Minn.) but five straight Flame points put the home team in front and they would not look back. UJ would trim the lead to 14-12, but six of the next eight points went to CSM and they went on to a 25-18 win.

In the third set, the Jimmies led 22-21 and a Zieske kill and Flame attack error put UJ one point away from a 2-1 match lead. However, CSM won five straight points to win 26-24 and gained the 2-1 match lead instead.

Tied at 5-5 in the fourth set, Jamestown put three straight balls to the floor and took advantage of back-to-back errors for a 10-5 edge. The Flames got as close as 19-16 before a 5-0 Jimmie run essentially put the set away. UJ's 25-18 win forced the decisive fifth set.

After CSM tied the fifth set at 8-8, back-to-back points for UJ gave them a lead they wouldn't relinquish. Jamestown came out with a 15-12 win to secure the match.

Anna Holen (SR/LaMoure, N.D.) had 21 kills and 21 digs while Hegerle had 19 kills, 28 assists, and 11 digs while hitting .514 on 35 attempts.

Zieske finished with 11 kills and Paige Oswald (JR/Frazee, Minn.) ended with 24 assists.

Ellie Holen (JR/LaMoure, N.D.) had a match-high 37 digs and Lexi Olson (SO/Langdon, N.D.) had 10 block assists as part of her 11 total blocks.

UJ outhit CSM .290 to .181 and had a 104-91 advantage in digs.

Next up for the Jimmies is a road game at Dordt on Thursday, when the teams will resume their suspended match from September 17.