OMAHA, Neb. – They say nothing worthwhile comes easy.

Saturday was another great example of that for the College of Saint Mary volleyball team.

The Flames celebrated a satisfying Senior Day victory in front of a large crowd at the Lied Fitness Center, getting pushed to the limit by a gritty Doane University squad before outlasting the Tigers 19-25, 25-23, 25-12, 31-33, 15-11 in Great Plains Athletic Conference action.

Doane (8-20, 3-12 GPAC) fought off seven match points in the fourth set to take it the distance. However, the Flames (15-13, 6-9) controlled the final race to 15 for their second straight five-set win on a day in which their eight seniors were honored before the match.

"The ladies stuck together,'' CSM Coach Rick Pruett said. "They came out in the fifth set and were aggressive. I told them, 'We were just in this situation a couple days ago (vs. Mount Marty). One set to 15 is a huge determiner of our fate the rest of the season.' And I don't think we ever trailed in that fifth set.

"We finished it, and it was just through a lot of heart and lot of character for those young women, especially on Senior Day. To get it done for those eight players and the rest of the program, it was a good win for us.''

After splitting the first two sets, CSM hit a blistering .444 in the third, getting four kills each from Madisyn Havermann and Grace Werner, and three apiece from Liz Henrichson, Kayla Petersen and Azaria Green.

That set the stage for a wild fourth. Doane had the response on all seven of CSM's match points. On the Tigers' second set point, a CSM error gave Doane the 33-31 win and sent it to a fifth.

College of Saint Mary only trailed once in the fifth, at 1-0. Leading 6-5, CSM went on a 6-1 run to lead 12-6. On the Flames' ninth match point, Werner slammed one down with the home crowd on its feet to end the two-hour, 19-minute match. Werner and Henrichson had three kills apiece in the final set, and Havermann added two.

Four Flames finished with at least 14 kills. Henrichson ripped 20 at a .385 clip and was followed by Werner (16, .227), Green (15, .182) and Havermann (14, .345).

"Liz really had a great match offensively,'' Pruett said. "That's getting it done. Great to see our four big hitters all with double-digit kills.''

Pruett also praised the front-row play of Petersen, who had seven kills, many in key moments, and hit .316.

The Flames also had four reach double figures in digs: Elen Pruett (25), Krissy Radicia (14), Caitlin McCormack (13) and Havermann (10). Miranda Ring notched 32 assists and Kaitlyn Busby added 28.

The eight seniors CSM honored before the match were Haley Bedlan, Kamryn Chohon, Havermann, Henrichson, Petersen, Werner, Morgan Ramsey and Ring.

Ramsey went down with a season-ending injury about three weeks ago with 991 career kills. She received a large ovation from the crowd. Ring also was honored for recording her 1,000^th career assist earlier this season. She has nearly 1,300 now.

"They're all just good young women,'' Pruett said. "They play for their team. To have a Kayla Petersen come back and play her fifth year. To have a Liz come out of retirement and play a COVID year because she can. It just kind of shows the experience they're having here at College of Saint Mary, with the academic side of things and with the volleyball program.''

All in all, it was a satisfying afternoon because Coach Pruett said his seniors have been so dedicated to their academics and athletics.

"It's such a specialized institution, with the sciences and the nursing,'' he said. "Most of these young ladies, their academic structure in what they do is so tough. For them to stay focused and put their stamp on the program is great.''

The Flames close the regular season Tuesday night with a 7:30 p.m. GPAC match at Hastings, and hope to earn a spot in the GPAC Postseason Tournament.

*The CSM junior varsity swept Doane 25-20, 25-18.