Freshman emily palkert tied her career-high with 25 kills as the fourth-ranked bears (20-2) overcame a two-game deficit at #13 minnesota state mankato (15-4) tuesday night, 24-30, 26-30, 30-24, 30-27, 15-8.

palkert recorded 18 of her 25 kills in the final three games as the bears staged the comeback. She had seven kills in the third game, five in the fourth and six in the deciding game. She finished the night with 25 kills, 11 errors and a .246 hitting percentage, along with three blocks.

whitney meirotto had eight of her 13 kills in the fourth game to keep the bears alive. With the score tied at 26-26, concordia scored four of the last five points to force game five. Meierotto also had 19 digs and three blocks. The 13 kills, 19 digs, marks the 17th double-double of the season for meierotto.

maria steinhagen had 16 kills, six errors and a .270 hitting percentage to go with five digs and three blocks in the match. kate bennett also had 12 kills and nine digs for concordia.

the bears had 97 digs in the match, with mary slinger leading the way with 25, while rachel knutson added 15. The mavericks had 92 on the night.

maggie mcnamara tallied 59 assists, to go with 13 digs and four kills, three service aces and two blocks in an all-around performance.

as a team, the bears hit .205 with 77 kills, 32 errors, in 219 attempts. The mavericks were impressive in the first two games of the match, recording a .417 and .326 hitting percentage with 17 kills, 2 errors in game one and 19 kills, four errors in game two. For the match, the mavericks finished with 72 kills, 25 errors, and a .223 hitting percentage.

the bears return to nsic action on friday as they travel to winona state for a 7:00 start.

box score - csp 3, minnesota state 2