The 17th-ranked University of Jamestown women’s volleyball team won its Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) opener in five sets Friday evening, defeating No. 3 Northwestern (Iowa) College 25-17, 25-22, 17-25, 16-25, 15-7.

The Jimmies improve to 7-5 overall and 1-0 in the GPAC while NWC suffers its first loss of the season and is 9-1 (1-1 GPAC).

Aleah Zieske led UJ with 21 kills and recorded a double-double with 14 digs. She also hit a team-high .320 for the match. Logan Sherman added 10 kills and Ava Mueller had nine.

Setters Paige Oswald, of Frazee, (19 assists, 13 digs) and Lily Bertsch (23 assists, 7 digs) combined for 42 of Jamestown’s 50 assists. 

Ellie Holen paced the defense with 26 digs and Grace Hegerle was also in double figures with 11. Lexi Olson had three total blocks.

NWC outhit UJ in the match .166 to .156, but the Jimmies had a .316 to -.182 advantage in the final set. 

After losing 17 of 19 sets in their last six matches in Orange City, Jamestown has now won three straight five-set matches against the Raiders, and seven straight overall.