marshall, minn. - the golden bears (23-0, 12-0 nsic) put up a double figure blocking effort in a road match against #15 southwest minnesota state (18-6, 8-4 nsic) on saturday afternoon. Their work at the net helped keep the mustangs to a season low .054 hitting average and gave concordia a sweep of a difficult road trip, facing two ranked opponents this weekend. Cu finished the win in three sets, 25-12, 25-22, 25-14. box score
the mustangs have seen continual difficulties in matches against the golden bears in recent years and saturday's match was no different. With concordia putting up a wall at the net, the mustangs committed far more hitting errors than they are accustomed to. The team gave concordia an entire set's worth of points off of hitting errors alone in the match (25) and nearly sunk to a negative hitting average as the match wore on.
the golden bears, on the other hand, opened the match with only one hitting miscue in the first set as they powered their way to a .481 hitting average and a 25-12 first set win. Their hitting average dipped a bit in the resulting two sets, but settled out to be a final .326 average.
emily palkert (mb, jr., excelsior, minn.) was the top blocker for the golden bears, spreading out eight blocks throughout the match. She was involved in eight of the team's total ten blocks. Palkert also matched megan carlson (oh, so., andover, minn.) with a team high nine kills in the win. The golden bears did not get as many offensive chances as they are used to in the match due to the high number of mustang mistakes. Their total of 38 kills in the match actually marked a season low figure.
the only set that kept the crowd of 474 enthralled was set two, which ended with a final score of 25-22. The mustangs bounced back from an early deficit that spread out as far as 17-9 and got back to within two points, 19-17. Southwest minnesota state then actually tied the score at 21-21 with their offense finding more success and the golden bears committing a series of errors on their own. Concordia ripped off three more kills and mary slinger (l, sr., faribault, minn.) finished the match with a service ace to take the 25-22 win.
the golden bears have now won 60 straight matches. They return home to the gangelhoff center next weekend to host northern state and the university of mary.
