st. Paul, minn. - on election day in 2008, minnesota became a battleground of sorts as two of the finest volleyball teams faced off at the gangelhoff center in st. Paul. #1-ranked concordia university (28-1, 17-0 nsic) fended off a determined #17-ranked minnesota duluth (20-8, 11-5 nsic) to sweep the regular season series, 3-1 (25-22, 22-25, 25-15, 29-27. The win secures the golden bears at least a share of the 2008 nsic title.
the teams that have rivaled each other through the past five years played very similar games on tuesday evening and treated fans both at the arena and around the nation via television to a fine match. Concordia had a number of starts, but none brighter than senior whitney meierotto, who recorded 18 kills and a career high 30 digs. For the bulldogs, it was april hansen who once again showed up on the offense and collected 24 kills.
there were many strong points for both teams on the evening, including very strong offenses and defenses that clung to keep their squads in the match. Blocking was also a huge part of the game, as the golden bears posted 12 team blocks. Although the bulldogs came up with just five blocks in the match, they touched far more balls than the stats may show and did a solid job slowing down concordia's offense.
the two teams traded wins in the first two sets as both squads were troubled at times with control. Minnesota duluth mistakes spelled the difference in the first set, while the same could be said of the golden bears in set number two. Many serves trailed out of bounds and the outline of the court also seemed to be hard to find for hitters.
concordia took a firm win in the third set before the bulldogs pushed the golden bears to extra points in the final. The set went back and forth, trading kills, aces and errors. April hansen and meierotto each pushed for the edge for their respective teams, posting eight kills each in the final set. Meierotto also had 14 of her night's 30 digs in the final set. Ultimately, the golden bears came away with two more blocks and a few more digs and aces to decide the game. Meierotto scored two of the final three points in the match, putting down a kill and acing a bulldog passer.
tonight's match was a great opportunity for the golden bears, who secured an nsic regular season title with the win, to gear up for post-season play. The teams were equally matched in kills this evening with 53 each and they also had similar defensive figures, cu leading 73 digs to 71. The golden bears walked away with the 12-5 blocking edge and also had eight ace serves on the evening.
meierotto's 18 kill, 30 dig performance was heightened even further by a solo block and three block assists. maria steinhagen gave umd hitters troubles all evening, as she came up with six blocks (1s, 5a). ellie duffy had 11 kills, followed by emily palkert with ten. mary slinger had 22 digs.
as mentioned, the focal player for minnesota duluth in was middle hitter april hansen. She posted nearly half of her teams kills with 24 on the night. Katie gangelhoff had 47 assists and matched rachel jacobsen for a team high 18 digs.
concordia is on the road this weekend, playing at minnesota, crookston on friday evening and at msu moorhead on saturday afternoon.
