kearney, neb. - the #2 seeded golden bears (29-2) met up with #7 seeded minnesota state mavericks (20-9) for the second straight year in the first match of the ncaa central region tournament. Last year cu won in four sets, this year cu was able to earn the sweep, 25-10, 25-19, and 25-21. Concordia advances to take on #3 seed minnesota duluth (28-3) at 5:00 p.m. box score | watch live | live stats | tournament website | press conference
kayla koenecke (delano, minn.) led the offense with 13 kills on the afternoon hitting .524 with just two errors. cassie haag (plymouth, minn.) was error free in the match with eight kills on 17 swings. taylor fieldsted (lakeville, minn.) led the defense with 15 digs as cu held msu to .182 hitting. ashley murtha (apple valley, minn.) was the other golden bear in double figures with 11 kills. Haag had six blocks on the afternoon as the team combined for 8 blocks.
the postseason started with two quick points for the golden bears as they jumped out 6-3 forcing a quick msu timeout. After the timeout katie habeck (farmington, minn.) and amanda konetchy (victoria, minn.) teamed up for a big block to make it 7-3. With the score at 10-6 haag and koenecke teamed up for a block followed by an ace from konetchy to make it 12-6 early in the first set. Cu then rolled off five of the next six points to extend the lead to 17-7. Cu continued the roll taking the set 25-10 behind five kills from koenecke and four from murtha. Concordia hit .600 with zero errors in the first set.
the second set began with concordia scoring the first five points forcing three attack errors, a thunderous block by haag and murtha was included. The mavericks countered the hot start with six straight points of their own to take a 6-5 lead. The two teams traded the next couple of points as cu held a 12-11 lead midway through the set. Concordia held a 15-12 lead after a great kill by koenecke slipping just inside the deep near corner. Msu got within two on a couple different occasions but could not get over the hump. Late in the match haag and megan carlson (andover, minn.) teamed up for a block to make it 21-17 and forcing a msu timeout. Cu took set two 25-19 behind four kills from carlson. Through two sets cu had just two errors and was hitting .439.
haag and koenecke teamed up for a block to start set three as concordia built up a 3-0 lead. Msu rallied back to take an 11-9 lead, the mavericks were hitting .438 at that point in the set. The golden bears and mavericks kept swinging away with the match tied at 14 midway through set three. Concordia got some breathing room at 17-15 but minnesota state would not go away tying the match at 17 all just moments later. Carlson gave cu a 20-18 lead with a solo block and then added to the lead with a kill on an overpass forcing msu to call at timeout down 21-18. The quick burst by the golden bears was enough breathing room as cu went on to win the third set 25-21 to advance to the ncaa central region semi-finals.
setter amanda konetchy had 37 assists as cu hit .410 in the match. Carlson just missed a double-double going for nine kills and 14 digs. The match with umd marks the sixth time the two teams have faced each other in the ncaa tournament. Concordia holds a 3-2 lead in the tightly contested series.
