The fifth-ranked concordia volleyball team (33-4) advanced to their third ncaa elite eight in five years with a 22-30, 30-28, 30-27, 30-21 win over the top-ranked bulldogs of minnesota duluth (29-2) on saturday evening in front of 2200 fans in the ncaa north central region title match in duluth, minn.

after dropping the first game 30-22, the golden bear defense came to life with the offense as the bears had 85 digs compared to 77 for the bulldogs. mary slinger led four concordia players in double-figures in digs with 23. whitney meierotto had 17 digs, while krista erickson finished with 16 and rachel knutsen 10.

"it was heck of a game. It was a blast," said concordia coach brady starkey. "our girls came out fired up and ready to play. We played incredible defense, we just wouldn't let the ball hit the floor."

those sentiments were echoed by minnesota duluth senior all-american vicky braegelmann who had seven kills in the first game, but finished the night with 14. "they made the plays. They kept sending the ball back and we made errors."

offensively, the golden bears had a well-rounded attack as five players tallied ten-plus kills, led by emily palkert with 13 kills, including six in game four. Meierotto and kate bennett would each finish with 12 kills.

maria steinhagen finished the night with 11 kills, no errors and a .393 hitting percentage. sadie kessler had nine kills in the first two games to pace the golden bear offense and finished the night with ten kills, against three errors in 28 attempts (.280).

on the night both teams finished with 60 kills and six blocks. The bears hit .173 with 28 errors in 185 attempts, while minnesota duluth had 34 errors in 192 attempts. maggie mcnamara finished the night with 58 assists in directing the concordia offense.

danielle beckstrand led the bulldogs with 16 kills, while braegelmann had 14 and kari wolford had 11.

mary slinger, whitney meierotto, maggie mcnamara and emily palkert of concordia were honored by being named to the ncaa north central region all-tournament team.

the golden bears will now play the winner of the atlantic region on nov. 29th. The time and location of the tournament and match will be announced early next week.

"on behalf of our program, we want to wish concordia the best of luck representing our region in the elite eight," said umd coach jim boos.

box score - csp 3, minn. Duluth 1