denver, colo. - it was another mix of powerful offense and strong defense that put concordia university over #6 west texas am (7-1) on saturday afternoon. In an anticipated rematch of the 2008 ncaa semifinals, the golden bears handed the lady buffs their first loss of the season with a 3-1 victory, 25-13, 22-25, 25-22, 25-16. #3 concordia (6-1) has one match remaining at the premiere challenge, an 8:00 pm (ct) matchup with #10 florida southern.
the bears opened the match with a hefty game one lead, starting on a 10-3 run with the help of many lady buff errors. They took the game 25-13 with four kills from whitney meierotto and three block assists from emily palkert. Cu hit .417 while wtamu finished even at .000.
the lady buffs turned the tide in the second game, outhitting the golden bears for a slim 25-22 win, but roles once again reversed in the fourth game. Concordia overcame a slight wtamu lead midway through the game, powered by kills from meierotto and opponent hitting errors. They went into the fourth and final game up 2-1 and prepared to send the lady buffs home with a loss. With just three hitting errors and 16 digs in the game, the table was set for a big win. Concordia led by as many as 13 points at 24-11. They gave up a five point run before closing the match with a palkert kill.
palkert swung for 16 kills and a .464 average with five block assists in the decisive win. Meierotto followed with 15 kills and 11 digs for hers and the team's second double double of the season. sadie kessler came up just short of a double double with ten kills and nine digs. The team hit .323 in the win with a season high 60 kills. The team also reached the ten block mark for the second time this year, paced by palkert's five and maria steinhagen with four. The defensive push was anchored by mary slinger with 17. maggie mcnamara had 55 assists.
the lady buffs hit a season low .165 in their first loss. Laura prinsen topped the roster with 15 kills, followed by melissa harper with 10. There were six team blocks and 41 digs for the team who had not had a match pushed into extra games all season.
