MANKATO, Minn. – For the first time since 2002, the Concordia University volleyball team dropped a match to Minnesota State. The 12th-ranked Mavericks defeated the No. 2 Golden Bears by scores of 25-23, 26-24, 13-25, 18-25 and 15-11 on Tuesday night at the Taylor Center. The loss ends a 14-match win streak over the Mavericks as Concordia falls to 8-2 overall and 2-1 in the NSIC, while Minnesota State improves to 8-3 overall and 2-1 in the league.

The last time CU went five sets was on October 22 last year against Minnesota Duluth, which was also a 3-2 loss. And the last time CU and MSU went five sets was 2007 - Concordia's first NCAA Title season, which was also in Mankato at the Taylor Center with MSU winning first two sets before CU won final three.

On Tuesday, the first set was played closely throughout with 14 scoring ties and nine lead changes. Late in the set, Concordia scored two straight points on a service error and kill by Kara Pioske (Waconia, Minn.) to lead 23-22, but then allowed three unanswered points to drop the set.

In the second set, Minnesota State took an early lead and led until halfway through the set when the Golden Bears tallied three consecutive points for a 12-10 advantage. The Mavericks regained the lead at 16-15 on an attack error and held onto that lead until kill by Cassie Haag (Plymouth, Minn.) put the Bears up 23-22. CU scored its 24th point on another kill by Haag and held set-point, but two kills by Kayla Berning and an attack error resulted in another Mavericks win.

With their backs against the wall in the third set trailing 2-0, the Golden Bears came out firing and led 10-3 early. Concordia kept a comfortable lead throughout the set en route to a 25-13 win, while attacking at a game-high .500 percent (16-2-28).

The fourth set went back-and-forth for the first 11 points until Ellie Duffy (Fridley, Minn.) went on a tear with four consecutive kills to give CU a 9-6 lead. The set then turned into a game of streaks as CU went on a 7-to-1 run to lead 16-9 followed by a 6-to-1 run by the Mavericks to cut the deficit to 17-15. But the Golden Bears answered right back with another 7-to-1 run to lead 24-16. Minnesota State took the next two points but a kill by Haag sent the match to a fifth set.

In the final set, the two squads traded blows early on and the Mavericks led 5-4 after the first nine points. But that's when the momentum swung in favor of the home team and it scored six straight points for an 11-5 lead. CU came within three points at 14-11, but Court Steinhauser gave the Mavericks their first win over Concordia in the past 15 meetings with the match-ending kill.

Kayla Koenecke (Delano, Minn.) and Duffy each posted a double-double for the Golden Bears. Koenecke had a team-high 16 kills and 11 digs, while Duffy posted 15 kills and 11 digs. Amanda Konetchy (Victoria, Minn.) posted 56 of the team's 63 assists, averaging 11.2 per set.

As a team, Concordia had a better attack rate than Minnesota State (.282 - .244).

CU returns home Friday night for a match against No. 22 MSU Moorhead at 7:00 p.m. at the Gangelhoff Center.