ST. PAUL, Minn. – The #2 Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (16-2, 8-2 NSIC) saw a 2-0 lead disappear as they fell in five sets to #3 Southwest Minnesota State (15-3, 9-1 NSIC) on Friday night. The Golden Bears won the first two sets before the Mustangs stormed back to win the last three in a row.
SMSU stemmed the tide in recent history against the Golden Bears as they won for just the fifth time in the last 36 meetings and third time in the last 19 meetings in St. Paul. The win marks the first win in St. Paul since 2012 for the Mustangs.
Despite a very even match on the scoreboard, the Mustangs controlled play in most areas. SMSU held advantages of 72-62 in kills, 64-61 in assists, 7.0-2.0 in total blocks while committing less hitting errors with a differential of 27-18. Perhaps their biggest advantage came in hitting percentage as SMSU hit .312, the highest mark against CSP this year, while CSP hit their lowest mark of the year at .222.
Emma Lange provided a bright spot for the Golden Bears as she put up a season-best 20 kills while hitting .359 on the night.
Anna Schlaak joined in double figures as well as she finished with 16 kills and 16 digs for her third straight double-double and fourth in five matches.
Kasey Williams also finished with a double-double as she contributed 56 assists and 14 digs as well. In addition,
Emily McDonough pulled within five digs of 1,000 as she led all players in the match with 20.
The duo of Kaylee Burmeiester and Taylor Reiss carried the load for Southwest Minnesota State as Burmeiester put up a match-high 21 kills to go along with 11 digs while Reiss chipped in 20 kills and 12 digs as the pair had just seven errors on 103 swings.
Megan Larson finished a dig shy of a double-double with 57 assists and nine digs while Amber Messner added 19 digs as well.
Early in the first set neither team was able to build much of an advantage as the two teams split points to push the score to 10-10. Concordia used the first real run of the set to take the lead for good with three in a row to go up 13-10 before holding the Mustangs off the rest of the way. SMSU closed the gap to one on four different occasions down the stretch but were unable to pull even as CSP pulled away late to take it 25-22.
Concordia got off to a faster start in the second as they ran out to a 7-3 lead, but Southwest Minnesota State quickly rebounded to take the lead at 9-8. That lead wouldn't last, however, as the Golden Bears followed shortly after with a big 7-0 run to build a 19-12 advantage. The CSP lead reached as many as eight before a late SMSU burst cut it back to a 25-20 final as the Golden Bears went up 2-0 in the match.
The third set was another tight one as neither team built larger than a three point lead until late. After a 12-12 tie, the Mustangs started to take control of the set. They built a three point lead at 16-13 and later rattled off seven of the last eight points of the set to force a fourth set with a 25-18 set win.
The Mustangs built off of a strong finish in the third as they went ahead 7-3 early in the fourth set. Concordia stemmed the tide a bit from there as they shrunk the deficit to two on several occasions, but were unable to string together enough point to even it up or take the lead. CSP remained down a pair at 11-9 before four in a row for SMSU put it out of reach. The Mustangs cruised from there as they finished strong, winning the set 25-18 to force a decisive fifth set.
Southwest Minnesota State rode the wave of momentum into the fifth as seven of the first 10 points to force a quick CSP timeout. Concordia eventually battle back to within one with three in a row and remained within two at 11-9 before the Mustangs grabbed four of the final five points to win the set 15-10 and match in five.
Concordia will look to return to the win column tomorrow afternoon as they host Sioux Falls at 4 p.m. in the second of a three-match home stand.
