steinhagen has career night with 14 total blocks; lucia sets single-season kills record

#3 concordia university (36-2), the top seed, used a season-high 20.0 blocks as they defeated #20 wayne state (30-8), the fourth seed, in four games 28-30, 30-24, 30-14, 30-22 in the ncaa north central regional quarterfinals at the gangelhoff center in st. Paul, minn.

the golden bears advance to the regional championship match to play #5 minnesota duluth, the second seed, for the fourth consecutive season.

the bears extend their winning streak to 20 matches on the season while their home winning streak is pushed to 29 matches and their winning streak against conference opponents (includes regular and postseason matches) is at 64.

concordia dropped the first game to the wildcats in a close battle. Wayne state hit .275 in the game with 20 kills while concordia hit .255 with 19 kills.

from there on out it was all concordia as the bears held the wildcats to .133, -.147 and .000 attack pct. In the final three games while hitting .273, .300 and .206 to close out the match. Concordia outhit wsc .258 to .084 in the four game match.

aside from the dominant blocking performance, senior libero megan graham's (left) match-high 27 digs contributed to the low hitting pct. For wayne state.

in the match, senior right side hitter jessica lucia (right) produced 15 kills which broke her own single season kills record at concordia of 612 set in 2005. She now has 618 kills on the season. Lucia recorded her 21st double-double this year as sh also had 16 digs. She added four blocks and two aces in the match.

sophomore maria steinhagen had a career night as she single-handedly shut down the wildcat attack with 14 blocks, six solo - both career-highs. On offense, steinhagen hit .389 with nine kills in 18 attempts with just two errors.

not to be overshadowed was the attack prowess of senior middle hitter kelsey kyro (left) who hit a match-high 20 kills to the tune of a .395 pct. (20k-5e-38ta). Kyro also delivered at the net with six blocks.

recording her seventh double-double on the year was senior outside hitter ashley olson who had 11 kills and 10 digs while adding four blocks.

freshman setter maggie mcnamara continued her consistent high powered season with 61 assists while setting the offense to a .258 pct. Against one of the best blocking teams in the nation. Ma.mcnamara also had eight digs and four blocks for the bears.

the wildcats were led by emily schroeder who had 15 kills, 10 digs and five blocks. Earlier in the season, schroeder delivered a triple-double against the golden bears. Danielle wessel added 13 kills, nine digs and four blocks. Senior setter brittany coleman had 43 assists and eight digs while libero laura dolezal added a team-high 19 digs.

the regional championship match between the golden bears and bulldogs will be played saturday, november 11 at 7:00 p.m. At the gangelhoff center. The bears have a 2-1 record against umd in their previous three meetings in the regional championship match.

quotes:
concordia university
head coach brady starkey:
"this was a fun match. They give us everything they've got every time we play them."

on wayne state winning game one with intensity: "that's wayne, they're really good. They play really well on their emotions."

"we've watched tape on them. They play well against other teams. They play great against us."

in response to noticing anything wayne state did offensively as they blocked them 20 times: "we thought we were anxious in our blocks early. We started to show some patience, started waiting on blocks and got keyed in. And maria's (steinhagen) a freak of nature."

maria steinhagen (so., mh, alexandria, mn):
in response to if coach starkey had any comments after the game one loss: "there aren't too many serious talks in between our games. We took it upon ourselves (to get going)."

kelsey kyro (sr., mh, minneapolis, mn):
on playing minnesota duluth for the fourth straight time in the regional final: "it is not much of a surprise. I think the team that is most aggressive will win."

wayne state college
head coach scott kneifl:
"we did a lot of nice things in game one. I'm proud of our team's effort. The team followed the game plan. We shut down their top players in game one. When they (concordia) are in system, they are awesome."

on going from a 10 win program three years ago to a 30 win team this year: "we are excited about our future and i told the girls not to let the seniors work go to waste."

brittany coleman (sr., s, beatrice, ne):
on winning 30 games this season: "we had big goals, we knew we could go places. We had visions of being a top 25 program this year."

michelle eckhardt (sr., mh, ayr, ne):
on the team's growth during her career: "we were definitely more of a team this year. It was ten times better this year than any year i've been here."