"It was great to get that mojo back!"
College of Saint Mary capped off the regular season with a thrilling five-set win over Hastings College Tuesday night. The Flames won the Great Plains Athletic Conference match 3-2 by scores of 19-25, 23-25, 25-16, 25-23, 15-8.
It was a crucial win for the Flames in conference seedings. Both teams entered the match with 8-7 GPAC records and were fighting for the sixth seed in the GPAC Postseason Tournament.
With the win, the Flames clinched the sixth seed and will play No. 3-seeded Concordia University in Seward, Neb., at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in the opening round.
"What a way to end the regular season," CSM Coach Rick Pruett said. "It was great to get that mojo back. I'm so proud of the ladies."
Perhaps the most impressive part is that the Flames lost the first two sets and still found a way to win.
"After set two we made some defensive changes and the ladies just were fighting for every point," Pruett said. "They really gutted it out and showed heart. It was like a heavyweight fight and I'm really proud of how the ladies battled."
It was a team effort for the Flames as five players had nine kills or more.
Rachel Rosenquist (SO/Dakota Dunes, SD) led the way with 16 kills, Lexie Langley (JR/Fremont, Neb.) tallied 12 kills, Makenna Freeman (SR/Omaha, Neb.) finished with 11 kills, Grace Werner (SO/Omaha, Neb.) belted 10 kills and Kamryn Willman (SR/Grand Island, Neb.) had nine. Setters Lauren Anderson (JR/Gretna, Neb.) had 25 assists and Miranda Ring (FR/Neola, Iowa) added 21.
Defensively, Rachel Cushing (JR/Council Bluffs, Iowa) had a match-high 30 digs, Anderson compiled 13 and Langley added 11.
CSM ends the regular season with a 9-7 GPAC record and a 19-7 overall mark.
*In the final junior varsity match, the Flames beat Hastings 25-16 and 25-21.
Original source can be found here.
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