denver, colo. - 18 kills from junior middle emily palkert helped the golden bear volleyball team (7-0) advance to the championship match of the regis/metro premier challenge. Concordia defeated #9 tampa three sets to one (25-18, 25-17, 21-25, 25-21) and now face #12 central missouri for the tournament title. The match will be played at 8:00 pm tonight and is available for online viewing (on a pay-per-view basis. box score
this will be the second consecutive weekend where the golden bears have met up with #12 central missouri. They commanded a 3-1 win over the mules last weekend with emily palkert tabbing a team season high 18 kills, which she matched in this afternoon's win over tampa.
the golden bears once again looked dominant as they went up 2-0 over tampa. They far out-matched the spartans at the hitting line but ut responded with a thorough third set to force extra play. Tampa downed 14 kills in the 25-21 third set win and allowed concordia to hit only .083. Play was tight throughout the set, but attacking errors for the golden bears not only forced two uncharacteristic timeouts from brady starkey, but also set the table for the spartans to distance themselves just enough for the win.
the fourth set battle between two top-10 ranked squads was one for the books, staying to within four points throughout the duration and both teams flexing some serious offensive muscle. The spartans put up 13 kills with a .357 hitting average, but the golden bears were even stronger.
in a showing virtually unseen between two great squads, the golden bears scored an amazing 20 of their 25 points from kills in the deciding set. The power was spread out between numerous players, with all six hitters notching at least two kills and cassie haag leading the attack with five kills. maggie mcnamara even pitched in with a kill down the stretch! down 18-19, the concordia offense answered with a 7-2 run to close things out, taking a palkert kill for match point.
four cu hitters had double figures in kills with palkert's 18 leading the way. megan carlson and sadie kessler each added 12 kills and haag finished with 11. Kessler was the only cu player with a double-double in the win, adding 10 digs to her line. mary slinger had 14 digs and mcnamara dished 52 assists. The golden bears edged out the spartans with a .304 hitting average.
the university of tampa had 53 kills to cu's 62 and finished with a .237 hitting average. Nine serving errors in the match increased ut's difficulties. Melissa vanderhall led her team with 15 kills.
