This match was tough to lose.

The Carroll College volleyball team went five sets with Rocky Mountain College but couldn't break past the Bears in a 25-19, 14-25, 25-22, 26-24, 15-10 loss Thursday night in the Carroll P.E. Center.

The Saints (15-6 overall, 5-3 Frontier Conference) were hoping to avenge a humiliating three-set loss to Rocky at the start of the conference season and finished with more kills and more blocks than the opposition. But, they couldn't get the points when they needed them the most.

The Bears rallied back from a 4-1 deficit and, with Katharina Hinrichsen serving, rattled off six straight points to take a 12-7 lead in the set before they were finally stopped by a Haylee Otteson kill.

It didn't take much longer for the Bears to put it away.

"We just went five sets in our game two nights ago," said Rocky senior Sarah Madinger. "We didn't want to have to make it five, but we were ready for the fifth one, we wanted it."

It nearly didn't reach into the fifth stanza. Madinger's kill along the left side of the net gave the Bears a 24-23 advantage and side-out for the match point.

But, after a short volley, Rocky turned to Madinger again and the Saints were there to pounce. Nicole Rowan and Haylee Otteson went for the block, and Otteson shot it down to Rocky's floor.

"It's huge," Otteson said about the block. "It gives me chills, it's my favorite thing."

It also swung the final three points Carroll's way as Sammy Priddy nailed a kill from the left side and Madinger hit the final spike out of bounds.

"That was huge in the fifth game how we picked ourselves up from that," Madinger said. "It could've been a big turning point."

The Saints ended up beating themselves in the end, spiking into the net, failing to make good passes and double-hitting during the Bears' six-point streak.

"It's beating ourselves," Otteson said. "It's a huge letdown, but you have to look at both sides, too, because we did some awesome stuff as a team."

Otteson, a sophomore, finished with 14 blocks, four of them solo, and added six kills in her first game back from a near two-week break. She's been giving shin splints some time to heal.

Junior Christina Smetana, meanwhile, continued her dominance at the middle hitter position. She finished with 20 kills at a 52 percent rate.

Priddy, meanwhile, finished with a double-double, picking up 23 digs and 10 kills at the outside hitter position.

The Saints even dominated the second set and looked in the zone as they went on an 11-1 run.

"We didn't pass the ball extremely well," said Saints head coach Moe Boyle. "Statwise our passing was really good in sets two and four, and those are the ones we won."

Madinger finished with 13 kills but it was Hinrichsen that did the most damage with 18 at a 47 percent rate.

The Bears remain ahead of Carroll with a 6-2 conference record

The Saints hosts rival Montana Tech next on Thursday and hope they can rebound from such a big match.

"There were some great performances on both sides. If you came to watch, you got a great game," Boyle said.

Rocky def. Carroll 25-19, 14-25, 25-22, 24-26, 15-10

Rocky Mountain College - Kills 57 - Katharina Hinrichsen 18, Sarah Madinger 13. Blocks 8 - Jillian Stanek 4. Aces 9 - Hinrichsen 2, Jessica Overstreet 2, Annie Krise 2. Digs 84 - Overstreet 22, Ashley Coburn 16. Assists 57 -Kristin Barott 53 Carroll - Kills 68 - Christina Smetana 20, Kristin Telin 12, Sammy Priddy 10. Blocks 18 - Haylee Otteson 14, Telin 5 Aces 4 - Priddy 2 Digs 92 - Priddy 23, Maureen Frauenholtz 20 Assists 68 - Caitlin Tocci 29, Katie St. John 28.