ST. PAUL, Minn. – The third-ranked Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (11-3, 6-1 NSIC) extended their winning streak to five with a four-set win over #11 Wayne State (12-3, 5-2 NSIC) on Homecoming on Saturday afternoon at the Gangelhoff Center.
The Golden Bears bounced back after dropping the first set to win the final three sets and pick up their second straight win against a top-20 opponent this weekend. After hitting .116 in the first set, CSP rebounded to finish with a strong .307 hitting percentage in the match.
Kasey Williams was excellent orchestrating the offense as she put up an impressive 59 assists to go along with 17 digs for her sixth double-double of the year.
CU Volleyball vs. Wayne State 10.3.2015 - Images by
Justin Oakman
Riley Hanson played a major role in that success with a match-best 17 kills on just 30 attempts to finish with a .467 hitting percentage.
Anna Schlaak and
Heather Schiller added 13 kills apiece as Schlaak also put up 17 digs to pick up the double-double.
Taylor Dordan once again led Concordia in digs with 22 while
Emily McDonough chipped in 18 digs and
Hope Schiller contributed 13.
Katie Hughes and Michaela Mestl each had double-doubles for the Wildcats as Hughes finished with 15 kills and 17 digs and Mestl finished with 11 digs and 20 digs.
Concordia took three of the first four points in the opening set before Wayne State quickly turned things around with four points in a row to turn the tide in their favor. CSP pulled back even at 6-6 and again at 8-8 but were unable to regain the lead as WSC held them off. Concordia remained within one at 13-12 before a 4-0 run gave the Wildcats a comfortable lead as they took control in the first. WSC continued to grow their lead as they settled with a convincing 25-17 win to open up the match.
The second set again began with CSP taking an early 4-1 lead before WSC stormed ahead for a 7-5 advantage of their own. Wayne State continued to hold the lead until Concordia pulled back ahead at 15-14 to set up a dramatic finish to the set. The set featured 10 ties and four lead changes as the two teams fought hard for every point down the stretch and extended the set past 25. The Wildcats survived three set points in the late stages before CSP finally closed it out 27-25 to even the match at 1.
Wayne State looked poised to regain their lead in the match as they jumped out to a 13-8 lead before eventually pushing their lead to six on three different occasions but they were unable to hang on as Concordia came storming back. The Golden Bears looked buried as they stared down a 24-20 deficit, but they responded with five points in a row to put the Wildcats a point away from dropping the set. WSC survived a few more points before CSP closed out the comeback with a 28-26 set win in the third to go up 2-1 in the match.
The Golden Bears carried that momentum as they scored eight of the first 12 points to take the lead for good. The Wildcats battled back to shrink the gap to two at 11-9 but they couldn't pull any closer as Concordia pulled away. CSP gradually grew their lead the rest of the way as they closed out the match by winning the fourth set 25-16.
Concordia is back in action on Tuesday night as they travel to #1 Minnesota Duluth for a huge matchup between two of the top programs in the country. First serve is set for 7 p.m.
