DENVER, Colo. – The fourth-ranked Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (5-2) fell just short in a dramatic five-set match with #13 Ferris State (8-0) in the Colorado Premier Challenge Gold Championship.
 
The Golden Bears matched their 3-1 finish in the tournament last season as they attempted to win their fifth tournament title since 2008. CSP previously won it in 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2013, but it wasn't to be for Concordia this year as the Bulldogs snuck past the Golden Bears in a hard fought match.
 
The match couldn't have been much closer as each set featured at least five ties and several lead changes as there were a staggering total of 45 ties and 15 lead changes in the match. Statistically, the two teams were nearly identical as Ferris State hit .212 compared to Concordia's .199 and they picked up 12.0 total blocks compared to Concordia's 11.0. CSP finished with more kills (68-64) and digs (104-95) as well as service aces (5-3) as there was very little separating the two teams.
 
Anna Schlaak finished off a dominant performance in the tournament as she paced all players in the match with 20 kills to go along with a season-best 16 digs in the match. Her 4.29 kills per set was the best in the tournament as she finished with 60 kills over the four matches. She now has three matches with 20+ kills in the first seven matches of the year for the Golden Bears. Her performance earned her Tournament MVP honors.
 
The Golden Bears also got a huge effort from Kasey Williams as the junior setter surpassed her career high with a match-best 26 digs to go along with 62 assists as she fell just four assists shy of her career-best in that category. Williams led all setters in the tournament by nearly a full assist with 12.64 assists per set in the four matches en route to earning All-Tournament Team distinction.
 
At the net, Concordia received another massive performance from Heather Schiller as she continued to rack up blocks with eight more in the championship. She nearly collected an improbable triple-double as she also contributed 11 kills and nine digs in the match. Schiller finished with a massive total of 25 blocks (1.79 per set) on the weekend as she improved her streak to seven straight matches with at least four blocks to start the season. The senior was the third member of the Golden Bears to be named to the All-Tournament Team.
 
Riley Hanson joined her fellow middle in double figures in kills with 18 while Emily McDonough put up a double-double with 11 kills and 17 digs for CSP. Taylor Dordan continued to be all over the place in the back row as she added 20 more digs in the match.
 
It was a balanced attack for the Bulldogs in the winning effort as Megan Vander Meer led the way with 18 kills and 21 digs while Ayanna Buckley chipped in 17 kills and Caroline Heitzmann contributed 15.
 
The Bulldogs took the early lead in the first set as they scored the first three points of the match. The lead remained at three at 10-7 before an extended 15-2 run for the Golden Bears shifted the momentum in their favor, giving them a 20-12 advantage of their own. Ferris State made it interesting near the end of the set as they survived four straight set points, but they couldn't survive a fifth as Concordia closed out the first set 25-21.
 
Ferris State jumped out front again in the second set as they collected six of the first nine to take a quick 6-3 lead. FSU remained out front until the 12-12 mark as Concordia tied it up and eventually took their first lead of the set. CSP led by as many as two on several occasions, including 24-22, but they were unable to hold off the Bulldogs as the two teams jockeyed back and forth until Ferris State was able to bring the set to a close with a 29-27 win to even the match at 1-1.
 
The early set trend continued for FSU in the third as they ran out to a 7-4 advantage. Concordia responded with a 5-0 run to take the lead as CSP appeared poised to gain a 2-1 advantage in the match. The Golden Bears' lead reached as large as five at 15-10 as they held a slim lead until the closing points of the set. CSP remained up by two at 22-20 before the Bulldogs snagged five of the final six points to build a 2-1 advantage of their own.
 
The Bulldogs carried that momentum into the fourth set as they once again were the first ones to gain the upper hand with a 13-10 lead. Their lead sat at two points or more throughout nearly the rest of the set as Concordia struggled to string together a run to pull ahead. That run finally came for the Golden Bears late as they erased a 20-17 deficit with convincing 8-2 run to force a decisive 5^th set with a 25-22 set win.
 
The fifth set mirrored the rest of the match with a lot of back and forth and frequent lead changes as neither team was able to gain solid control. CSP led as late as 9-8 but the Bulldogs were able to put together one final push as they took seven of the final nine points to win the set 15-11, win the match in five and win the Colorado Premier Challenge.
 
Concordia returns home this Thursday to open up NSIC play at home as they play host to Upper Iowa. The match is set to begin at 7 p.m.