Kearney, Neb. - For the fifth straight year and seventh time in the last nine years, the Concordia University volleyball team has captured an ncaa regional championship. Tonight, the second-seeded and third-ranked Golden Bears (31-2) defeated fifth-seeded and ninth-ranked Southwest Minnesota State (25-7) in straight sets (25-17, 26-24, 25-13) in the central region championship hosted by university of nebraska-kearney. Concordia has now won 27-straight NCAA tournament matches dating back to their first of four ncaa championships in 2007. They'll continue their quest for a fifth straight national title on thursday, december 1st in the NCAA national quarterfinals ("elite eight") against sixth-ranked Central Missouri.
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Cassie Haag (plymouth, minn.) finished with 14 kills on the night, most by any Golden Bear. Kayla Koenecke (delano, minn.) was all over the floor with 10 kills, 11 digs and five blocks, three of them of the solo variety. She also hit a massive .526 in the match. Amanda Konetchy (victoria, minn.) had 43 assists on the night setting up the offense. Ashley Murtha (apple valley, minn.) had a team high 16 digs to lead the defense and also racked up seven kills. Megan Carlson (andover, minn.) had eight kills and 13 digs.
Following the win brady starkey said, "we did a great job running our game plan and doing an excellent job seeking out their hitters." he also commented on how freshman murtha was able to make a big impact during the regional tournament after starting just six matches during the season. He commented saying "she is young but she doesn't get flustered. We knew she could step in right away and we have been working her all season which has helped her out."
The Golden Bears jumped out in the opening set to a big 10-4 lead. The mustangs rallied slightly over the next few points to pull within four at 15-11. After the timeout concordia got back to back points on kills from Carlson and Koenecke. With the score at 19-15 in favor of cu, the Golden Bears went on a run scoring six straight thanks to very tough defense and holding the mustangs hitters in check. Concordia won the set 25-19 holding SMSU to just five kills and gathering 24 digs, eight by all-tournament team member Ashley Murtha. Solo blocks from Murtha and Habeck at the end of the set keyed the run as well.
The Mustangs overcame a 5-3 deficit early in the second set to take an 8-6 lead and force a cu timeout. SMSU stayed hot increasing their lead to 10-6 after the timeout. Concordia clawed their way back and tied the set at 15 thanks to a solo block from carlson. CU got their second lead of the match at 19-18 when haag and koenecke teamed up for a block forcing a SMSU timeout. The Mustangs tied it back up at 19 but a kill from koenecke followed by a solo block from her gave cu a 21-19 lead late in the set. After a smsu timeout koenecke was big again for her second straight solo block. Southwest Minnesota State fought till the end tying the set up at 24 forcing a cu timeout. Back to back kills from Katie Habeck (farmington, minn.) and Carlson gave CU the set at 26-24.
It was the Cassie Haag show in the third set as the junior had six kills in the frame. With CU up 8-6 they went on a run that finished off the mustangs scoring eight straight to go up 16-6, Haag had three kills during that span. The mustangs never got closer than seven as the Golden Bears pulled away late taking the set 25-13.
Haag missed a handful of matches this season due to sickness was on fire on saturday night with her 14 blocks. "i had to fight a lot to get in a position where i was able to get stronger throughout the season. This process was aided by the fact i have great teammates who have helped through this all season," exclaimed haag after the win.
Concordia out hit smsu .264-.062 in the match as the golden bears defense forced 25 attack errors. After the match setter amanda konetchy was asked about her offense, “we trust in ourselves and we trust our hitters.�
The match with central missouri will be the second matchup of the season; cu swept central missouri 3-0 at the gangelhoff center in the second match of the season.
central region all-tournament team
megan carlson, concordia
kayla koenecke, concordia
amanda konetchy, concordia
ashley murtha, concordia
kate lange, minnesota-duluth
april hansen, minnesota-duluth
bri morley, metro state
mary groth, sw minnesota state
cara carson, sw minnesota state
brooke burmeister, sw minnesota state
jackie stabell, colorado school of mines
amanda massey, colorado school of mines
