It was another near-miss against a ranked team for the Jimmies on Saturday.

After a 3-1 win over Dakota Wesleyan, Jamestown College took tournament-host and fifth-ranked Northwestern (Iowa) to a fifth game before losing 3-2 in their final match at the Red Raider Classic on Saturday.

The Jimmies lost in five against 20th-ranked Doane on Friday, but played well against both of the powerful GPAC teams.

"It was a tournament-style atmosphere," JC coach Jon Hegerle said of the match played at Northwestern's home gym in Orange City, Iowa. "There was a lot of energy. The gym was packed with Red Raider fans. We created an opportunity to do something special, we just fell a little bit short."

The Jimmies, now 4-5 on the season, have three more chances next weekend against ranked opponents when they'll face three of the top teams in the NAIA at the Asics-Crowne Plaza Invitational in Irvine, Calif. They'll play third-ranked California Baptist and Westmont (Calif.) on Friday. All they have Saturday is No. 9 Azusa Pacific and second-ranked Concordia (Calif.). All four play in the Golden Sun Conference, the top volleyball league in the NAIA.

Northwestern 3, Jamestown College 2

The Jimmies jumped out to a 1-0 lead with a 25-20 decision in the opening set, and took a 2-1 edge after a 25-32 win in the third.

Northwestern, a dynamic offensive team, rallied to win the next two - 25-18, 15-8 - to hold off the Jimmies' upset bid.

It was a contrast in styles: offense (Northwestern) vs. the Jimmies' defensive style.

"The three key areas for us: passing, serving, defense; I thought we did all three well," Hegerle said. "And the girls competed really hard. It was a fun match to be a part of."

The Jimmies had 89 digs, Sam Revering (21) and Krysten Williams (15), led the way. Jada Meiklejohn capped off a strong tournament with 22 assists and also served five aces.

"Jada played very well. She served tough and was a strong leader and competed hard all weekend," Hegerle said.

Shannon Fee's 15 kills were a team-high. Sarah Becker had four of her 10 blocks on the day. Emilee Schutta had seven kills, five digs, two blocks and an ace.

"I thought we were pretty gutsy out there," Hegerle said. "It was definitely a sign that we're moving in the right direction and doing the things we have to do in order to be successful."

Jamestown College 3, Dakota Wesleyan 1

Prior to their showdown with No. 5 Northwestern, the Jimmies took care of Dakota Wesleyan, 3-1.

Fee hammered in 17 kills as the Jimmies jumped out to a 2-0 lead and then mixed and matched the lineup some.

Dakota Wesleyan took the third (25-22), before a dominant fourth for the Jimmies (25-15) iced it.

"We certainly didn't put in our best performance. After the second set we switched things up and tried different things," Hegerle said. "We went back to our regular lineup and took care of Game 4."

Williams and Revering had 18 digs in the back row. Revering added 12 kills and Katie Zent, who hit .450 on the weekend, added seven kills. Meiklejohn passed out 24 assists.