kyro: it's not just egypt's capital city
senior kelsey kyro's 20 kills led five golden bears with at least nine kills as #4 concordia university (34-2) clicked on all cylinders in an impressive four game victory (28-30, 30-17, 30-16, 30-23) over #21 wayne state (29-7) to claim their third consecutive nsic tournament championship on saturday evening at the gangelhoff center in st. Paul, minn.
kyro returned to the lineup after missing the first two matches of the tournament and was dominant, appearing not to miss a beat as she hit .359 and was unstoppable at key moments in the match.
the win secures what was a formality until tonight, a fourth straight appearance in the ncaa north central regional tournament as the bears earn the nsic's automatic bid. Concordia, ranked #1 in the latest ncaa regional poll, also improved their chances to play host to the regional for an unprecedented fourth-straight season.
concordia's winning streak is extended to 18 matches and their winning streak against northern sun opponents is stretched to 62 matches.
senior jessica lucia recorded her 19th double-double of the season as she had 19 kills and 15 digs as she hit .469 in 32 attacks. Lucia also had four assists, three aces and two blocks in an all-around effort.
junior monica mcnamara tied a season-best 17 kills in the match and hit .387 in 31 attacks. She was set by her sister maggie mcnamara, a freshman, who reached the 70 assist mark for just the third time this season, an impressive feat in just four games. She also had a double-double with 16 digs and added three blocks, one solo.
senior ashley olson was the fourth bear to reach double-digit kills with 12 while sophomore maria steinhagen didn't miss when called upon with nine kills in 11 attempts for an astronomical .818 attack pct.
the defense was led by megan graham (above), who eclipsed ma.mcnamara and lucia in digs with 22 while also adding a pair of assists and an ace.
the bears, who were outhit in the first game by the wildcats .364-.295, turned on their jets in the final three games, hitting .472, .290 and .475 while holding wsc to .065, -.025 and .250. The final hitting pct. Total was cu .384 to wsc's .167.
the bears outdug wsc 72-46 and outkilled the wildcats 77-55. The wildcats did defeat the bears at the net with 9.5 blocks to cu's 8.0.
wayne state was led by emily schroeder's 22 kills, six digs and six blocks while michelle eckhardt had 11 kills. Wsc's libero laura dolezal had 20 digs and their setter, brittany coleman had 51 assists.
the bears had three all-tournament team members (below) in jessica lucia, ashley olson and maggie mcnamara while the wildcats also produced three members with emily schroeder, michelle eckhardt and brittany coleman. The all-tournament team is pictured below.
the golden bears will await the ncaa regional selections to be announced to find out their first round matchups in the selection show on sunday, november 5 at 10:00 p.m.
