TAMPA, Fla. – The top-ranked Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (4-0) pulled off a dramatic comeback at #17 Tampa (2-2) on Saturday night as they erased deficits in both the fourth and fifth sets to claim the five-set victory.
After winning the opening set 25-22, the Spartans stormed back to put CSP on the brink of defeat by taking the second set 25-20 and the third set 25-22. Concordia showed their resilience by making a late push to win the fourth set 25-23 before doing the same to win the fifth and final set 17-15.
The win gives the Golden Bears seven in the last eight meetings against the Spartans, including a pair of national title meetings. Overall in the 14 meetings since the start of the series in 2005, CSP holds a record of 10-4. Going beyond three sets has become something of a regularity between the two schools as just two of the 14 meetings have ended in a sweep, including six that have gone the full five sets.
The five-setter represents the first match to go beyond the fourth set in the last 16 matches for Concordia as they have picked up 13 sweeps and two four-set wins during that span. Overall, it marks just CSP's third five-set win during their 23 match winning streak.
It was a struggle offensively for the Golden Bears for much of the match as they were held below .200 hitting in each of the first four sets before putting up an impressive mark of .364 in the fifth to finish the match at .206. The Tampa block played a big role in that with 11.0 total blocks compared to just 3.0 for Concordia, but it wasn't enough as the Golden Bears ground out the win. The UT offense found slightly more success as they finished at .235. Back row play made a huge difference, however, as CSP held a 78-60 edge in digs as well as a 4-2 edge in service aces.
While the offense may not have been firing on all cylinders,
Elizabeth Mohr once again kept the opponent guessing by spreading the ball around. Mohr shattered her career high as she eclipsed the 60-assist mark for the first time with 61. She also added five digs and a pair of kills in the win.
It was Concordia's two middles that led the way in kills as
Shelby Seurer flew past her career-best mark with 19 kills while
Sara Macek closed out a huge day with 16. Seurer finished with a solid .459 hitting percentage while Macek registered in at .370.
Mariya Sampson and
Brooklyn Lewis also joined in the attack as Sampson picked up 14 kills and five digs while Lewis added 13 kills.
Hope Schiller had a quiet match offensively but made up for it in a big way with 19 digs while
Tori Hanson matched her with a career-high 19 digs as well.
Taylor Soine joined the two in double figures as she collected 15 digs to go along with two service aces.
Nicole Dominguez paced the Spartans with a double-double as she led the team with 12 kills and 15 digs while Taylor Fosler added 11 kills.
The two teams split the points in the early going as neither team built an advantage larger than two until midway through the set. It was the Spartans that first shifted momentum in their favor as they turned a 10-8 CSP lead into a 16-11 advantage of their own with an 8-1 run. Tampa's lead remained comfortable at 19-15 before the Golden Bears scored five in a row to jump back out front 20-19. The lead changed hands two more times as the Spartans scored the next two, but CSP closed out strong with four of the last five to win the set 25-22.
Tampa set the tone in the second set by taking four of the first five points to quickly build a three point advantage. CSP temporarily took the lead at 11-10, 12-11 and again at 13-12, but the Spartans regained control from there with an 8-2 run to make it 20-15 in their favor. Concordia shrunk the deficit back to three at 21-18, but that would be all the closer they would get as Tampa evened the match with a 25-20 set win.
The Spartans carried that momentum into the third as they quickly grabbed a six point lead at 10-4 to take the lead for good. CSP managed to cut into that lead to close the gap to two at 12-10 and again very late at 24-22, but UT held on to claim the set. Their lead grew as large as seven at 20-13 before they eventually settled with a final score of 25-22 to put the Golden Bears one set away from defeat.
The fourth set got off to an even start as the score sat at 10-10 before the Spartans grabbed the next three to build a 13-10 lead. Tampa remained up two at 18-16 before three in a row for CSP gave them their first lead since the early going of the set. The lead shifted back to UT with a 4-1 run to make it 22-20, but the Golden Bears responded with a crucial 5-1 run to win the set 25-23 to force a decisive fifth set.
With the score sitting at 6-6 in the fifth, the Spartans strung together an important 3-0 run to take a 9-6 lead and force a CSP timeout. The Golden Bears regrouped by taking the next two points to set up a dramatic finish. The two teams alternated taking the next six points before Concordia finally broke the streak to tie it up at 12-12. After Tampa regained the lead with a kill, CSP flipped the advantage with two straight to force set point. The Spartans erased set points at 14-13 and again at 15-14, but Concordia finally broke through to claim the dramatic win by taking the set 17-15.
The Golden Bears are set for another tough weekend on the road as they travel to Denver for the Colorado Premier Challenge next Friday and Saturday.
