DULUTH, Minn. – The second-seeded #3 Concordia University volleyball team (26-5) was eliminated by third-seeded #7 Wayne State (26-5) in the NSIC / US Bank Tournament semifinals in five sets (27-25, 21-25, 23-25, 25-23, 15-13) on Friday night. The Wildcats advance to face the winner of top seeded #2 Minnesota Duluth and fourth-seeded #5 Southwest Minnesota State.
The Golden Bears entered the weekend as the second ranked team in the NCAA Central Region and will await their fate in the seeding of the NCAA Central Region Tournament. The Selection Show is set to begin at 9 p.m. on Sunday night at
ncaa.com. The champions of the NSIC and GAC Tournaments along with the MIAA regular season champion earn automatic bids to the regional, with the other five spots awarded as at-large selections.
The Golden Bears showed their resolve as they erased a 2-1 deficit in the match to force a fifth set but were unable to complete the comeback as the Wildcats closed it out with a hard fought 15-13 win in the fifth.
Despite losing the match, Concordia managed to collect 82 kills compared to 65 for WSC and also out-hit the Wildcats .288-.262. A big factor was CU committing 27 errors while Wayne State had 17.
Anna Schlaak and
Emma Lange each broke the 20 kill plateau as Schlaak had a double-double with a career-high 25 kills and 14 digs while Lange fell one kill short of her career high with 21 but set career bests with nine assists and nine digs while hitting .436.
Kasey Williams also eclipsed a career high with 66 assists to go along with 17 digs for a double-double.
Taylor Dordan and
Lisa Atkinson also finished in double figures in digs with 19 and 14, respectively.
Mariya Sampson joined in with a career-best 19 kills as she also added seven digs.
Katie Hughes carried the load for the Wildcats with 23 kills on 62 attempts while Elizabeth Gebhardt chipped in 15 kills and Alyssa Frauendorfer had 12.
Michaela Mestl and Courtney VanGroningen led the way defensively as Mestl had a match-high 22 digs and VanGroningen added 17.
Wayne State started a trend of getting off to a strong start as they built a 17-11 lead in the opening set. Concordia clawed their way back into it and eventually pulled within two at 22-20. The WSC lead remained at two at 24-22 but the Golden Bears survived two set points and went on to win the set 27-25.
The Wildcats quickly ran out to an eight point lead in the second set at 14-6, but also saw that lead shrink. CU cut it to three several timed but WSC wouldn't break as they pulled out a 25-21 set win.
The Golden Bears fell behind 7-4 in the third and but scored three straight to even it at 7-7. Wayne State pushed the lead back out to four at 16-12 and again at 20-16. CU stole the momentum with a huge 7-1 run and appeared to be on their way to taking a 2-1 lead in the match. The Wildcats had other plans as they scored the final four points of the set to win it 25-23.
With their backs against the wall, Concordia ran out to a 7-3 lead in the fourth. The lead wouldn't last as the teams proceeded to trade the lead four times with 11 ties mixed in. WSC led as late as 19-18 but Concordia responded and took the decisive lead at 22-21. The Wildcats didn't make it easy though as the Golden Bears pulled it out by just two at 25-23.
The fifth set was another tight set as the lead changed hands five times. The Golden Bears held the lead at 11-9 but a 5-0 run in favor of the Wildcats put WSC just a point away from winning the match. CU withstood a pair of set points but couldn't hold off a third as Wayne State closed it out 15-13.
