GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- Visiting Ole Miss had to weather a North Dakota comeback and staved off a match point in the fifth set to claim a thrilling 25-23, 27-25, 23-25, 22-25, 17-15 win over host North Dakota in a Saturday afternoon tilt at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. The Rebels led two sets to none, then 5-1 in the fifth but had to rally from down 14-13 to remain undefeated at the UND Classic.

UND stood toe-to-toe with the Southeastern Conference foe, never relenting to force that fifth set. North Dakota had chances to win each set in a closely-contested early-season match. UND led 13-11 in the opener before an 8-2 Ole Miss run put them on top for good in that frame. Chelsea Moser had a service ace to make it 24-23 but the Rebels were able to close it out, 25-23.

In the second, neither led by more than two points. With the score at 22-all Faith Dooley registered one of her 13 kills go force a timeout. An Ashley Brueggeman kill gave UND a set point at 24-23 until Ole Miss scored four of the final five points to grab a two-sets-to-none lead going into intermission.

Four straight early points by the home team set the tone for set three. North Dakota, despite never leading by more than six points, would not relinquish the lead and claimed a 25-23 victory.

UND took that momentum into the fourth frame, rattling off the first four points to force Ole Miss to exhaust an early timeout. After Ole Miss took a 15-13 edge, UND forced six straight Ole Miss attack errors, three via blocks. The Fighting Hawks finished the set with a 25-22 win and sent the match to a decider.

Things looked bleak after a 5-1 start for the Rebels, but again, UND was up to the challenge. Brueggeman had three kills in that final set alone including a pair early to help UND draw even at 10-10. A Kate Gibson kill made it 14-13 in favor of Ole Miss before Brueggeman was in on a block with Jordan Vail and Ole Miss added an attack error.

With match point on the line, the Rebels benefitted from a service error then scored an ace of their own and finally put away the match, 17-15, to remain the lone unbeaten at the four-team tournament.

Senior Chelsea Moser finished with a team-high 15 kills with Dooley and Tamara Merseli adding 13 apiece. Junior Sydney Griffin chipped in 50 assists while Alivia Fraase recorded 22 digs.

UND will meet up with UC Davis in the final match of the Classic tonight at 7:00 p.m.