BISMARCK, N.D. - The Concordia University volleyball team (11-2, 4-1 NSIC) won their fourth straight conference match as they swept the University of Mary (3-11, 0-5 NSIC) on Friday night. The Golden Bears remained perfect in 12 meetings with the Marauders as they took the three sets 25-11, 25-13, 25-12.
For the first time since September 15th, 2012, the Golden Bear defense held an opponent below .000 hitting as the Marauders mustered just a -.020 attack percentage for the match with 21 kills and 23 errors. Concordia's offense wasn't far behind as they hit .374 as a team and committed just 10 errors.
Setter
Kasey Williams was at the center of that success as she contributed a solid line with 37 assists, eight digs and two blocks. Williams finished one dig short of
Taylor Dordan's nine digs as Dordan led the way for CU in that category.
Offensively,
Riley Hanson and
Emma Lange were the only two Golden Bears in double figures in kills with 12 and 11, respectively. Both hit at a high percentage as Hanson hit .455 and Lange hit .500 along with five blocks.
On a night in which Concordia finished with nine total blocks,
Heather Schiller paced the group with seven blocks as three other Bears had at least two.
Concordia wasted no time getting going as they scord the first six points of the match. Mary closed the gap to three at 7-4 but it was never really close the rest of the way as the lead hit double digits at 19-9. CU kept their foot on the gas as they finished off the set scoring four straight to take it 25-11.
The second set proved to be more competitive in the early going as U-Mary kept pace with the Golden Bears. Concordia eventually pulled away with a dominant 9-0 run to turn a 9-8 lead into an 18-8 lead. The Marauders couldn't recover as CU rolled their way to a 2-0 lead with a 25-13 set win.
An early 6-0 run in the third set in favor of CU gave the Golden Bears a 9-2 lead they wouldn't give up. Another strong 5-0 run late in the set eventually pushed it out of reach as Concordia completed the sweep with a 25-12 set win.
The Golden Bears finish off the week-long road trip tomorrow afternoon as they travel to Minot State to take on the Beavers at 6 p.m.
