DULUTH, Minn. – The third-ranked Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (12-3) knocked off top-ranked Minnesota Duluth (13-3) in four sets on Tuesday night. The Golden Bears improved to 11-0 all-time against teams ranked #1 in the country.
CSP improves to 20-25 in the series with UMD with 20 wins in the last 34 meetings as the Golden Bears bounced back after dropping the first set.
The Golden Bear attack remained red hot as they hit over .300 for the fourth time in five matches with a mark of .318. The defense was equally impressive as they held their opponent below .200 for the third time in four matches as well as CSP held UMD to .184 hitting.
Concordia's block made a big difference again on Tuesday as they out-blocked Minnesota Duluth 10.0-4.0.
Heather Schiller once again continued her dominance in that category as she had five total blocks on the night.
The trio of
Anna Schlaak,
Emma Lange and
Mariya Sampson led the way offensively for Concordia as they all finished in double figures in kills in the match. Schlaak finished just a dig short of a double-double with a team-high 16 kills to go along with nine digs as she hit .324 in the win. Lange picked up 11 kills with an impressive .450 hitting percentage while Sampson chipped in 10 kills
Kasey Williams kept up her stellar play with 43 assists while
Taylor Dordan put up a match-high 12 digs.
Mariah Scharf was the focal point of the Minnesota Duluth offense as she finished with a match-high 17 kills and Taylor Wissbroecker, Sarah Kelly and Sydnie Mauch all finished in double digits in kills as well.
Concordia opened the match by taking the first three points to set the tone for the early portion of the first set. CSP pushed their lead to four at 17-13 before seeing that lead slip away late. The Bulldogs pulled even at 21 and pushed ahead by two at 23-21 following a 4-0 run as they took control in the set. UMD forced a set point at 25-24 but the Golden Bears extended the set beyond 25 as Minnesota Duluth closed out the first set 27-25.
The second set also started in Concordia's favor as they quickly built an 8-4 lead to regain the momentum. The Bulldogs pulled within two a few different times but CSP pulled away with four straight points to extend their lead to 17-10. The Golden Bears continued to grow their lead from there as they evened the match with a 25-14 set win in the second.
The Golden Bears carried that momentum into the third set as they surged to a 9-3 lead to get things started. The lead wouldn't last long as UMD responded to even the set at 12 with a 9-3 run of their own. They were unable to get over the hump and take the lead, however, as CSP stemmed the tide. The score remained tied at 19 before Concordia finished off the set by taking six of the last seven points to win the set 25-20 and take a 2-1 lead in the match.
The fourth set proved to be the most dramatic of the match as the two teams traded the lead nine times along with 20 ties in the set. UMD took the largest lead of the set at 9-6 before the Golden Bears evened it up with three points in a row. The only point a lead would reach larger than one for either team was at 18-16 in favor of CSP until the final margin. Concordia finished strong with a 4-1 run to turn a 22-21 deficit into a 25-23 win to close out the win.
The Golden Bears return home this weekend as they host U-Mary and Minot State.
