ST. PAUL, Minn. – In another battle of the top two NCAA Division II volleyball teams in the country, No. 1 Concordia University dropped a five-set thriller in the 2012 NSIC/US Bank Volleyball Tournament Championship to No. 2 Southwest Minnesota State on Sunday afternoon – set scores were 19-25, 20-25, 25-12, 25-21 and 10-15.

CU Volleyball vs. Southwest Minnesota State 11.18.2012 - Images by Justin Oakman

The loss snaps a 17-match winning streak – including 16 at home – for the Golden Bears as they fall to 27-4 overall. The Mustangs earn the NSIC's automatic qualifying bid into the NCAA Central Region Tournament, improving to 29-2.

After winning 48 straight sets at home this season, the Golden Bears dropped their first of the year in the opening frame. The Mustangs controlled play early and jumped out to an 8-4 lead. The Bears answered, though, with six straight points to take a 10-8 lead. Kayla Koenecke (Delano, Minn.) played a huge role in keeping the run alive with two key digs in the 16th volley, leading to an 8-8 tie.

Southwest Minnesota State came right back with a 6-to-1 run to regain a 13-11 lead. CU was able to tie the score at 14 apiece, but the Mustangs took the next four points en route to a 25-19 victory.

Concordia committed nine errors in the opening set – three attack, three service and two reception – and was held to a .235 attack percentage (12-4-34). The Mustangs hit at a .333 clip (16-2-42).

In the second set, SMSU rolled its momentum over and took an early 8-2 lead. CU was able to cut the deficit to four points at 11-7, but the Mustangs fired back once again with an 8-to-3 spree to lead 19-10. Leading 20-13, SMSU took a timeout and CU came out of the break with a momentum swing. The Bears rallied for a 5-to-3 run to come within five points at 23-18 forcing another SMSU timeout, but the Mustangs held on for a 25-20 win.

Both teams improved on their attack in set two, but the Mustangs out-hit the Bears 18-to-14 in kills and .357-to-.256 percentage-wise.

Concordia took the first point of the third set and never gave it up. The Mustangs were able to tie the score four times (1-1, 3-3, 4-4, 5-5), but could never take the lead. The Golden Bears rallied behind their home crowd for a 5-to-2 run to lead 13-8, forcing a SMSU timeout. SMSU was able to claim two of the next three points until CU scored six consecutive points for a 20-10 lead en route to a convincing 25-12 decision.

The Navy and Gold's defense was stout in the third, limiting the Mustangs to a .000 attack percentage (6-6-32), while recording 17 digs. On offense, CU hit .389 (18-4-36).

The two squads traded blows throughout the fourth set with 14 scoring ties and six lead changes resulting in a 19-18 Concordia advantage. The largest lead for both teams was two points until the Golden Bears took a 21-18 lead late in the set on a kill by Koenecke. But the Mustangs fired back with two straight points to force a CU timeout.

Head Coach Brady Starkey's squad came out of the break and took four of the final five points to force the deciding set. The Bears matched their attack percentage from the third set at .389 (17-4-46), while holding the Mustangs to a .205 clip (15-6-44).

The Bears were unable to overcome an early deficit in the deciding set. SMSU took the first point and never gave up the lead. The Bears tied the score three times early, but an 8-to-2 run by the Mustangs was too big of a hole for CU to dig out of.

Four Golden Bears reached double digit kills, led by Ellie Duffy (Fridley, Minn.) with 19. Ashley Murtha (Apple Valley, Minn.), Koenecke and Cassie Haag (Plymouth, Minn.) tallied 18, 13 and 11, respectively. Mutha, Koenecke and Amanda Konetchy (Victoria, Minn.) each posted double-doubles; Murtha added 15 digs, Koenecke dug out 16, while Konetchy lead the team with 57 assists along with 11 digs. Taylor Dordan (Blaine, Minn.) paced the defense with a game-high 27 digs.

As a unit, the Bears out-hit the Mustangs .275-to-.251.

Abbey Thissen led SMSU's attack with 15 kills (four errors) on 28 attempts for a .393 clip. Emilee Gutzmer tallied 48 assists and Rachel Westby led the defense with 24 digs.

Six players were named to the All-Tournament team – four from SMSU and two from CU. The Mustangs representatives are Mary Groth, Devin Deidrich, Emilee Gutzmer and Brooke Burmeister, while the Golden Bears are represented by Ashley Murtha and Ellie Duffy.

The NCAA selection to the national tournament will take place at 9:00 p.m. tonight on www.ncaa.com. The top eight teams in the region will advance to the NCAA Central Region Tournament, which begins November 29.