DENVER, Colo. - The #1 Concordia University volleyball team (5-1) took their first loss of the season as they were swept by #2 University of Tampa (5-1) on Friday night in the Colorado Premier Challenge. The loss snaps a five game winning streak against the Spartans and an 11 game winning streak overall.
The two teams have a pretty extensive history as they have met 11 times before tonight with the Golden Bears going 8-3, including two wins in the national championship match. Concordia swept the season series last year with a win in the final match of the Colorado Premier Challenge and a win in the NCAA Elite Eight, but the trend didn't continue tonight.
The Golden Bears entered the evening coming off a hard fought win over Florida Southern this afternoon while the Spartans came in after suffering a four-set loss to Southwest Minnesota State this morning. Tampa led throughout most of the match as the lead changed hands only eight times in the entire match. UT collected a .321 hitting percentage compared to a mark of just .121 for Concordia. The Spartans also controlled play at the net as they picked up 9.0 blocks while CU had 4.0.
Concordia did receive a few bright spots as
Anna Schlaak collected 12 kills on 28 attempts along with five digs. Freshman
Mariya Sampson also had a solid night on the offensive side with 7 kills on just 11 attempts with no errors to finish with an efficient attack percentage of .636.
Bekley Whaley was a force for the Spartans as she led all players with 16 kills on 29 attempts for an attack percentage of .379. Allie Stelogeannis added nine kills and Marissa Lisenbee chipped in eight for UT. Setter Kaley Patrick finished with a match-high 35 assists.
Tampa set the tone in the first set as they allowed only one tie (4-4) and no lead changes en route to a 25-18 set win. Concordia kept it close, keeping the lead within seven the entire way, but were unable to get over the hump and take the lead. A big reason for that was Tampa holding the Golden Bears to a -.074 attack percentage in the set.
The second set began as more of the type of match that people were anticipating as the two teams traded points in the early going. A 6-0 run for Tampa, however, turned a 9-9 tie into a 15-9 advantage that they wouldn't relinquish. CU was unable to pull closer than five points the rest of the set as they fell behind 2-0 with a 25-18 loss in the set. The Golden Bears showed some improvement offensively in the set, including getting five kills from Schlaak, but Tampa's balanced attack was too much to overcome.
Concordia looked to re-create their memorable come-from-behind win against Tampa in the 2012 National Championship, but couldn't string together enough points to take control. The Golden Bears claimed a 16-13 lead in the third set but had it vanish quickly folllowing a 5-0 UT run. CU was unable to regain the lead as Tampa closed out the sweep with a 25-21 set win.
Next on the schedule for the Golden Bears is a rematch of the 2013 National Championship with #4 BYU-Hawaii at 1:00 p.m. followed by a 6:00 p.m. match with Colorado Mesa tomorrow on the campus of Regis University.
