the second-ranked concordia university volleyball team advanced to the ncaa division ii final four with a 3-0 win in the elite eight quarterfinals, defeating #24 california university of pennsylvania 30-26, 30-25, 30-22. Junior maria steinhagen (alexandria, minn.) led the golden bears with 16 kills while junior whitney meierotto (washburn, wis., above) had ten along with 16 digs.

"this was one of those matches where we played consistent and played to our strengths," concordia head coach brady starkey commented. "the girls did a good job of controlling the ball and keeping it off the floor, prolonging the plays until we were able to win the point. It wasn't a pretty match by any means but they kept working hard and persevered for the win."

concordia got off to a slow start as the vulcans built an early 8-3 lead. Trailing 11-8, meierotto surged the golden bears to an 8-1 run to take a 16-12 lead.

when asked about getting off to an early 8-3 lead possibly being due to riding an emotional high, california (pa.) coach melissa myers was quick to disagreee, "we are a good team, we weren't just riding an emotion. Obviously at this level everyone plays with a sense of urgency, but we were playing a great team today with five great offensive players and a setter who puts the ball where it needs to be."

the vulcans didn't fold after the early concordia surge, as they rallied to reclaim the lead 20-19 when tamara hinic and joanna nist blocked sadie kessler (so., st. Michael, minn.) at the net.

but concordia would score eight of the next 10 points to take a 27-22 lead and kate bennett's (sr., eagan, minn.) kill solidified the game one victory.

in the second game, concordia took off from a 9-8 lead to a commanding 23-11 advantage. But the vulcans cut the deficit back to six, 26-20 off of a kill by katie benick.

steinhagen produced two kills for points 29 and 30 to close out the game as concordia held off the vulcans by five in the second game.

on the california (pa.) comeback, coach starkey offered his insight, "we tightened things up a bit. We started making errors on our swings and when we finally got back to getting some solid swings at them, they started making plays. But we got a few kills late and it was enough to get us through the game."

the third game started like the first, with the vulcans taking control early, leading 14-11 midway through. But concordia fought back and took an 18-16 lead of their own in a tight game.

cal. (pa.) tied the score at 18 but another bennett kill gave the golden bears the lead for good.

leading 23-22, concordia scored the final seven points to close out the match with kessler and steinhagen producing two kills each down the stretch.

myers, when asked if concordia did anything to take the vulcans out of their game, responded by saying, "they are smart about where they put the ball and took advantage of us. We do have weaknesses, and they were able to exploit them. But it was nothing that was characteristic of our team this season, this was a very good team with two very good middles. We haven't seen anything like that all season."

the middles myers referred to were steinhagen who had 16 kills and hit .519 in 27 attempts (two errors) and emily palkert (fr., excelsior, minn.) who had nine kills.

concordia's defense is what carried them through the match, holding cal. (pa.) to a -.020 attack pct. In the third game and a .099 pct. For the match. The defense was led by sophomore libero mary slinger (faribault, minn., right) who had a match-high 20 digs while meierotto and sophomore setter maggie mcnamara (zumbrota, minn.) each contributed double-double performances.

mcnamara, pictured below, finished with 45 assists and 10 digs and added a team-high three blocks (one solo). She directed the concordia offense to a .206 hitting pct. For the match including a first game total of .295 (20-7-44).

setter maggie mcnamara needs 20 assists to reach her own ncaa division ii assist record of 1,977 set last season. She currently has 1,957

the vulcans were led by joanna nist who had 13 kills, 10 digs and a pair of blocks while katie benick added 11 kills. Marta hodge had 18 digs and renata da silva had 34 assists.

"i'd like to offer my congratulations to california university of pennsylvania and melissa myers. They were a very good opponent and it takes a lot to get here and is a great accomplishment for them," said coach starkey.

the golden bears will take on #8 west texas am.

on facing their next opponent (unknown at the time) coach starkey shrugged it off, "i don't really know much about either team. I'm excited to watch their match to see who we will get to play. But for our team, i make sure they don't focus on who they play but instead to take care of their own business. When we get wrapped up in the other team, it takes us out of rhythm."

the golden bears and lady buffs will play tomorrow afternoon at 4 p.m. In the national semifinal match with the winner advancing to the national championship on saturday at 5:00 p.m.

box score - csp 3, california (pa.) 0