The College of Saint Mary won their first home match of the season on Thursday night as they welcomed the Mount Marty Lancers to the Lied Center Gymnasium.

The Lancers proved to be stiff competition for the Flames, forcing a fifth game to decide the match. The teams took turns winning games all night as the Flames took the first set by a 25-15 margin. The Lancers answered in game two, squeaking out a 25-22 victory. Game three was an impressive set for the Flames, ending in a 25-18 score. Facing defeat, the Lancers responded confidently and took the fourth game in convincing fashion, 25-14. With the fifth game deciding the match the race to 15 points was on. However with the teams tied at 14, it took two unanswered points by College of Saint Mary to give them the 16-14 victory.

First year Coach Samantha Harvey was impressed with the way Ashley Iwanksi, of Omaha, and Baylee Collins, of North Platte, handled themselves down the stretch.

“Having Ashley (Iwanski) and Baylee (Collins) step up like that down the stretch was really the key to our victory tonight,” said Harvey.

Harvey and the Flames now have a week to recuperate, before heading to York College for their first Midlands Collegiate Athletics Conference match of the season.

OMAHA - The College of St. Mary’s volleyball team played its first home match under new coach Samantha Harvey on Wednesday night as they faced the visiting Concordia University Bulldogs.

After the Bulldogs took both of the first two games, Harvey’s Flames fought back to win game three. Unable to ride their momentum from the previous game, the Flames allowed Concordia to open up the fourth game with eight unanswered points. The Bulldogs held on to their early lead and closed out the match with a 25-21 victory in the final game.

Coach Harvey saw some bright spots at times but overall left the Lied Fitness Center gymnasium a little disappointed.

Click to view story on Concordia University website

OMAHA - Concordia University defeated the College of St. Mary by the score of 3-1 on Wednesday evening in Omaha.

Scores of the match were 25-20, 25-21, 21-25 and 25-21. It’s the third straight win for the Bulldogs, who are now 4-2 on the season. The Flames dropped to 2-1 on the year with the loss.

OMAHA, Neb. - Four Bruins recorded double figure kill totals as the 14th-ranked Bellevue University volleyball team defeated College of St. Mary 3-1 (23-25, 25-16, 25-14, 25-17) Tuesday night in Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference action at the Lied Fitness Center.

With the win, the Bruins improved to 17-6 overall and 6-0 in the MCAC. College of St. Mary fell to 9-13 and 2-2 in league play.

Senior outside hitter Rachel Muller recorded her 15th double-double of the season with 14 kills and a team-leading 15 digs.

Junior Jaclyn Thorson led the Bruins with 15 kills on .419 hitting while adding five blocks.

Sophomore Maureen Wardian hit .458 with 13 kills and four blocks.

Sophomore Kali Schnacker was the fourth Bruin in double figures with 10 kills while adding eight digs and two blocks.

Freshman Jordan Broady directed the Bellevue offense to a .247 hitting percentaqe while collecting 47 assists and nine digs.

The Flames hit .270 in the first set, pulling out the 25-23 victory. However, Bellevue held the Flames to negative hitting over the final two frames.

The Bruins will have their longest break of the season, returning to action in six days when they host Briar Cliff at 7 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 12 at the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center.

Midland Lutheran defeated the College of St. Mary 25-22, 25-18, 25-17 on Saturday.

Cara Fleischmann led the Flames (6-10) with eight kills. The Warriors (4-8) snapped a five-match skid.

View story on Hastings College web site

The Hastings College volleyball team (10-0) won all 4 of their matches at the College of St Mary tournament over the weekend. The Broncos defeated College of St Mary 25-22, 25-18, 21-25, 25-10, then beat Johnson and Wales College 25-13, 25-9, 25-10.

Three Broncos hit for double-digit kills against College of St Mary - Kendra Schwein had 13 kills, Leah Dostal and Katie Moeller had 10 kills apiece. Haley Beardsley and Lindsey Sitorius set for 18 and 27 assists respectively. Liz Van Kirk, Tracia Norblade, and Melynne Kessler each had 2 ace serves. Kessler added 23 digs. Allie Mohrman, Kelsey Wells, and Moeller combined for 16 blocks.

BLAIR - The Dana College volleyball team opened its season with a five set victory over the College of St. Mary on Tuesday night. The Vikings won by the individual game scores of 21-25, 27-25, 25-16, 19-25, 15-11.
The Vikings were led by Megan Higgins (JR, Council Bluffs, IA) with nine kills. Two freshman opened up their college careers in dominate fashion. Katie Dettmer (Avoca, NE) had eight kills in her first college match. Amanda Kisker (FR, Lincoln, Nebraska) added seven kills. Senior Kali Brayfield (Elkhorn, Nebraska) had eight aces and six blocks in the win. Steph Connell (JR, Harlan, IA) and Wendy Boller (FR, Dorchester, NE) combined for 38 assists.

The Viking victory is the program’s first win over the Flames since the 1994 season. Dana College is 1-0 overall. The Vikings travel to Orange City, Iowa this weekend to take part in the Red Raider Classic. Dana will play four games this weekend against Black Hills State, Jamestown, Valley City State, and Mayville State.

Click to view complete box score

OMAHA - The College of Saint Mary (CSM) volleyball team has once again been recognized by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) as one of its AVCA Team Academic Award winners for the 2008/09 season.

The award, which was initiated in the 1992/93 academic year, honors collegiate and high school volleyball teams that displayed excellence in the classroom during the school year by maintaining at least a 3.30 cumulative grade-point average on a 4.0 scale.

With 15-consecutive awards, the CSM volleyball team holds the record for longest overall streak among all National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) teams. In addition, CSM’s streak of 15-straight awards is the most earned overall by any team.

The CSM Flames volleyball team, under head coach Jenny Madrid, kicks off its 200910 season on August 25 with a match at Dana College.

For more information about the AVCA Team Academic Awards, visit www.avca.org or call 866-544-2822.

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POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. - The 2010 MCAC Women's Volleyball Preseason Coaches' Poll was released Monday (Aug. 23) with Bellevue University favored to claim the conference championship.

Bellevue, the 2009 MCAC regular season champions, advanced to the NAIA National Tournament for the third-straight season, finishing with a 29-10 overall record and a 14-0 conference mark.

College of the Ozarks was picked second by the MCAC coaches after going 26-10 (12-2 MCAC) last season and claiming the MCAC Tournament title to advance to the NAIA National Tournament Opening Round. The Bobcats received votes in the 2010 national preseason poll.

Four athletic teams at College of Saint Mary (CSM) have been recognized as Scholar Teams by the NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) for the 2009/10 season. For a team to be considered for this award, it must have a minimum 3.0 cumulative grade-point average on a 4.0 scale.

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