SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The top-seeded #1 Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (35-2) claimed its eighth NCAA Division II Volleyball National Championship in the last 10 years with a sweep (25-19, 25-12, 25-12) of sixth-seeded #9 Alaska Anchorage on Saturday night at Sanford Pentagon.
The Golden Bears closed out the season in tremendous fashion by winning their final 19 matches of the season to hoist the trophy for the eighth time in program history. Concordia's eighth title moves them into sole possession of second all-time in volleyball national championships as they surpassed both Division I Penn State and Division III UC San Diego (both have seven) with the win. The Golden Bears trail only Division III Washington-St. Louis's record of 10 titles.
The win moves CSP's record in the NCAA Tournament to a staggering 61-6, including a mark of 26-2 in the final three rounds, in their 14 trips to the tourney. The Golden Bears also extended their streak to 24 consecutive wins as a part of the Elite Eight field as they move to 8-1 all-time in title matches.
The Golden Bears were well represented in the NCAA All-Tournament Team as they grabbed four of the 12 slots on the team.
Riley Hanson,
Emma Lange and
Kasey Williams all earned spots on the team while
Anna Schlaak was named the Tournament Most Outstanding Player. Alaska Anchorage's Morgan Hooe and Chrisalyn Johnson joined them from the championship match.
Concordia was in full control all night long as they managed to hit an impressive .433 on the night while they held their opponents to .114 in the win. CSP held edges of 50-23 in kills, 48-22 in assists, 51-27 in digs, 6.0-3.0 in blocks and 8-2 in service aces as they performed well in nearly every aspect of the match.
Riley Hanson saved some of her best for last as she led all players with 15 kills on just 20 swings to put up an efficient .650 hitting percentage.
Hanson was joined by
Mariya Sampson and
Anna Schlaak in double figures as Sampson put up 11 kills and Schlaak added 10. Sampson fell a dig short of the double-double with nine digs while Schlaak also contributed seven and a pair of aces.
Kasey Williams was once again solid in getting everyone in the offense involved as she averaged nearly 15 assists per set with 44 assists to go along with 10 digs for the double-double.
Emily McDonough wrapped things up in the same way she did all year long with a match-high 15 digs as well.
Hope Schiller gave the Golden Bears a game-changer in the serve with five aces on the night.
The Seawolves were led by Leah Swiss' eight kills while Morgan Hooe contributed 20 assists and five digs in the loss.
With a raucous crowd filled with pro-Concordia supporters, the Golden Bears rode the energy early in the first set as they grabbed six of the first eight and 10 of the first 14 to jump out to an early lead. The Seawolves regained some composure from there, but were unable to really close the gap as the Golden Bears continued to put the pressure on. After UAA closed the gap to four, CSP responded to take their largest lead of the set at 17-8. The Concordia lead would shrink back to four as late at 20-16, but the Golden Bears were too much as they closed out the set with a 25-19 win.
After Alaska Anchorage took the first two points in the second set, the Golden Bears completely took over with an incredible 16-2 run that featured three different runs of at least four points to give CSP a 16-4 lead. Perhaps the most impressive stretch during that run came in the form of an 8-0 burst that was highlighted by three
Hope Schiller aces in the span of four points. The Seawolves pulled back within single digits at 20-11 and again at 21-12, but the final four points went in favor of Concordia as they pulled within a set of the title.
The Golden Bears carried that momentum into the third set as the first six points went in their favor. Their lead hit eight at 9-1 and would not shrink below seven the rest of the way. The lead eventually hit 13 at 20-7 and remained in double figures down the stretch as they closed out their eighth title with a 25-12 win in the third set.
Concordia had five players wrap up their careers as multiple-time national champions as
Emily McDonough collected her fourth title,
Kasey Williams and
Anna Schlaak each picked up their third, and
Riley Hanson and
Emma Lange each grabbed their second.
McDonough closes out her career in ninth in CSP history with 1,313 digs in her six seasons on campus for the Golden Bears.
Williams finishes up with 4,705 assists, good for fourth, while her 1,022 digs are 15
th.
Schlaak wraps up her time at CSP as one of five players in program history to have over 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs as she collected 1,244 and 1,104, respectively.
Hanson concludes her time at Concordia as the program's all-time leader in hitting percentage while her 1,500 kills are good for sixth-most.
Lange also registers inside the top-5 in hitting percentage with the fourth-highest hitting percentage for the Golden Bears to go along with her 1,056 career kills.
2016 NCAA DII Women's Volleyball All-Tournament Team
1 Mallory Davidson L/DS 5-5 So. Austin, Texas Angelo State
5 Kayce Krucki OH 5-9 Sr. Findlay, Ohio Wheeling Jesuit
6 Susie Forbes L 5-6 Jr. Miami, Fla. Palm Beach Atlantic
11 Olivia Finckel OH/OPP 6-2 Fr. Baltimore, Md. Palm Beach Atlantic
15 Abby Becker S 5-11 R-So. Menomonee Falls, Wis. Lewis
20 Maddie Seliga RS 5-10 R-Jr. St. Louis, Mo. Lewis
2 Morgan Hooe S 5-6 Sr. Anchorage Alaska Anchorage
9 Chrisalyn Johnson OH 5-8 So. Anchorage Alaska Anchorage
5
Riley Hanson MB 5-11 Sr. Nevis, Minn. Concordia-St. Paul
7
Emma Lange MB/RS 6-1 Sr. Caledonia, Minn. Concordia-St. Paul
14
Anna Schlaak OH 5-9 Sr. New Richland, Minn. Concordia-St. Paul
15
Kasey Williams S 5-8 Sr. Cross Plains, Wis. Concordia-St. Paul
Most Outstanding Player
14
Anna Schlaak OH 5-9 Sr. New Richland, Minn. Concordia-St. Paul
