wayne, neb. - in an anticipated nsic battle between to nationally ranked and streaking squads, the golden bears of #1 concordia university (18-0, 7-0 nsic) saw their fiercest competition in league play on tuesday night. The wildcats of wayne state college (16-3, 4-1 nsic), newly adorned with their #22 ranking, scored more points against the golden bears than any other league squad this season before suffering a 3-0 loss with set scores of 29-27, 25-21, 25-21. The golden bears keep their winning streak alive at 55 matches, while a program high 15-match winning streak ends for the wildcats. box score
the wildcats have a history of playing well against the golden bears and tuesday night's matchup proved to be no different. In the lengthiest nsic match of concordia's season, running an hour and 20 minutes, the golden bears were pitted against a solid offense and a fiesty defense.
wayne state opened the match with a 4-0 run and kept the golden bears on their heels through most of the first set. They churned out a 17-12 lead and, using several kills from lea hartigan along with concordia mistakes, forced a rare timeout from cu head coach brady starkey before going on to lead 21-14.
the golden bears woke from their apparent slumber just in the knick of time, however, going to a player who has shown time after time that she can handle pressure. A fearless sadie kessler stunned the wildcat audience by ripping off an incredible six straight kills to tie the set up at 24-24. A kill from wsc's hitting leader, jennifer hefner, gave the wildcats their sixth set point of the night and forced another concordia timeout. ellie duffy knotted the set at 25-25 before concordia got a first set point, but again the tables turned as wayne took off with a 27-26 lead.
the golden bears took the set back in a fashion that reminded some of their 2008 ncaa championship comeback, blocking back-to-back balls before kessler fittingly ended the long set with an ace serve.
and that was just the first set!
the wildcats never eased up, but concordia fared much better in the remainder of the match. They improved their hitting average and continued to play strong defensively, with mary slinger's expertise in the back row being an invaluable asset that could not be overlooked. The golden bears did not allow the wildcats a lead past the opening points for the remainder of the match, although the score remainded close and even tied at several points.
emily palkert boosted her team with six kills in the second set, also adding two blocks along the way. megan carlson rocketed out seven kills without an error in the final set of the match, also adding two blocks, to guide her team to a continued undefeated season. The wildcats hit well in the final two sets, but the golden bears simply hit better and did a better job defending their side of the court.
carlson put up a double-double with a match high 15 kills and 10 digs. Kessler finished the night with 12 kills, but none as important as her eight in the first set. She also had eight digs and two service aces. Duffy had eight kills, followed by palkert with seven. maggie mcnamara gave her squad 41 assists, ten digs and three block assists in the win.
causing the golden bears the most headache in the match was lea hartigan who matched the high of 15 kills. She also had five digs and three blocks. Hefner added 10 kills and two blocks. Leigh connot paced her defense with 17 digs. The wildcats finished with a .216 hitting average and held the golden bears, who lead the nation in the category, to a .254 average.
concordia returns to the comforts of the gangelhoff center to play a homecoming match this saturday evening, hosting st. Cloud state at 6:00 pm.
