Box Score ST. PAUL, Minn. - For the first time in over 12 years the #3 Concordia University volleyball team (29-3) was swept on their home court at Gangelhoff Center. The #2 Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs claimed their first NSIC/US Bank Tournament championship with a three set win over the Golden Bears to claim an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Each team will now await their fate with Monday's NCAA Selection Show at 6:30 p.m. on NCAA.com. With UMD earning the NSIC's auto-bid, they'll be awaiting their seed and first round draw. Concordia, the second ranked team in the region and one spot ahead of UMD in last week's NCAA Central Region Rankings, is expected to earn an at-large spot in the tournament but will also await official confirmation along with seed, location and opponent.
CU Volleyball vs Minnesota Duluth (NSIC) 11.24.2013 - Images by
Justin Oakman
The Golden Bears' last home loss any fashion came last season in the NSIC/US Bank Tournament championship against SMSU, snapping a 19 match home winning streak. The last time Concordia was defeated in straight sets was in the 2001 season finale (Nov. 10) to Northern State.
UMD's Kate Lange, Ashley Hinsch, Julie Rainey and Sydnie Mauch were named to the NSIC/US Bank All-Tournament Team along with Concordia's
Amanda Konetchy and
Kayla Koenecke.
Lange finish with a match-high 19 kills to go along with nine digs as she hit .385 for UMD. Sydnie Mauch had an efficient day on the attack with 15 kills on just 23 attacks en route to a .565 attack percentage. Julie Rainey was a force in the back row, collecting 20 digs, including several huge digs to set up crucial kills down the stretch. Ashley Hinsch controlled the offense with 50 assists as she led UMD to a .346 attack percentage as a team.
Riley Hanson did some damage for the Golden Bears with a team-best 14 kills while hitting .364.
Kayla Koenecke was her usual versatile self with 10 kills and a .455 attack percentage to go along with her seven digs.
Amanda Konetchy picked up a double-double for CU from the setter position with 39 assists and 10 digs.
Emily McDonough had a team-high 11 digs as well as eight kills.
Things didn't come easy for the Bulldogs despite the three set win, with a staggering 47 ties and 23 lead changes in the match.
The Golden Bears seemed to be in control early on in the first set, building leads of 10-8, 15-12 and 16-13. The lead remained for Concordia at 18-17 before the Bulldogs scored five straight and forced a pair of CU timeouts. Concordia answered back with two points of their own from
Heather Schiller and
Riley Hanson to make it 22-20 as UMD called a timeout of their own. Minnesota Duluth alternated points with the Golden Bears to take the first set 25-22.
Mauch was dominant in the first with six kills on seven attacks and Kate Lange contributed five kills as well. Rainey added seven digs in the set.
Hanson was fed frequently for CU as she had six kills on 13 attacks in the opener.
The second set was a back-and-forth affair with 15 ties and eight lead changes with the biggest lead being three up until the final point in a 25-21 decision. Concordia responded from a 16-13 deficit with a 4-0 run to surge ahead 17-16 to force a timeout for the Bulldogs. Out of the timeout, UMD scored five straight to take the lead back at 21-17. Not to be outdone, CU cut the lead back to one with three points of their own. The Bulldogs settled in and closed out the set by scoring four of five points to take a 2-0 lead with a 25-21 win in the set.
Kate Lange had another five kills in the set and Rainey added six more digs for UMD as the Bulldogs held the Golden Bears to just .200 hitting.
The deciding third set proved to be the wildest set of the match with an unbelievable 22 ties and 10 lead changes as well as five different set points as neither team led by more than two at any point.
UMD built a two point lead at 11-9 before a CU run flipped the two point advantage in favor of the Golden Bears at 13-11. Concordia once again held a two point lead at 16-14, but neither team would lead by more than one after that until the final point.
Minnesota Duluth's first opportunity to close out the match came with a 24-23 advantage. Concordia mishandled the serve and the Bulldogs put a free ball onto the court, but the attacker was in the net, giving CU new life. Koenecke aced the serve to give the Golden Bears an opportunity to take the set with a 25-24 advantage. UMD's Mariah Scharf extended the set with a kill.
Heather Schiller gave CU another set point opportunity with a kill, but once again Scharf kept the set alive. A crazy exchange for the next point ended with a kill from UMD's setter, giving the Bulldogs another chance to close the match. McDonough put home a feed from Konetchy to tie it back up at 27 on the next point, but another kill from Scharf and an error from McDonough gave Minnesota Duluth the deciding 29-27 advantage.
Hinsch had 20 assists and Lange had nine kills in the set to shut the door on a CU comeback.
