saint paul, minn. - the golden bears (23-2, 14-2 nsic) offense was held in check on friday night falling to wayne state (19-6, 12-4 nsic in four sets; 21-25, 25-27, 25-17, 13-25. It was the first time since 2001 that cu has lost back to back games in the gangelhoff center when they lost to smsu and wayne state. megan carlson (andover, minn.) has 31 digs in the match a career high and most by a golden bears this year. Concordia was held to .183 on the night which is the lowest of the season. box score | watch live | listen live | live stats

in set one concordia fell behind 4-1 in the early going. Cu settled down and came back to take a 5-4 lead, however wsc came ready to play and responded back. Wayne state had a 15-12 lead giving themselves breathing room midway through the set. Concordia got within one at 15-16 and then tied it at 17 seemingly setting up a dramatic finish, but wsc quickly scored three straight points taking a 20-17 lead. Cu never recovered falling 25-21, they hit .089 in the first set, the lowest in a set since their second set against northern michigan in their fourth match of the year.

concordia and wayne state were in a battle in the second set as well as they went back and fourth over and over. The golden bears held a 14-11 lead before the wildcats scored three straight to tie it back up. It remained close until cu had set point at 24-21. That difference was not enough wsc found a way to tie the set at 24. Concordia had a set point at 25-24 but once again wsc rose up to tie the match and score two more to win it 27-25. Carlson had 13 digs in the second set.

the offense for the golden bears was in form in set three as concordia took a commanding 6-1 lead early and never looked back. The wildcats got with three at 6-3 but cu scored seven of the next eight to take a 13-4 lead, their biggest of the set. It never got closer than seven as concordia hit .368 in the set and took the set 25-17.

the momentum did not last long as it was wsc who took the big lead in set four. Concordia was forced to call their second timeout trailing 7-1 early. The golden bears cut the lead to five a couple different times but that was the closest they got. Wayne state closed out the set 25-13 and took the match.

carlson finished with a double-double having 14 kills in addition to her 31 digs, her digs tied for sixth ost in school history. kayla koenecke (delano, minn.) had 15 kills and eight digs on the evening. cassie haag (plymouth, minn.), ellie duffy (fridley, minn.) and katie habeck (farmington, minn.) all had nine kills. amanda konetchy (victoria, minn.) had 51 assists and eight digs. For the first time since 2001, concordia drops back-to-back home matches at gangelhoff center. The last time was september 14-15, 2001 against southwest state (1-3) and wayne state (0-3). The golden bears also drop two league matches in a season for the first time since 2002 and the first time under head coach brady starkey (2003-present).

tomorrow the golden bears host augustana in the last home match of the regular season. Match time is set for 4:00 p.m. At the gangelhoff center.