DENVER, Colo. – The top-ranked Concordia Golden Bears (5-0) held off West Florida (3-2) for a four-set victory in the opener of the Colorado Premier Challenge on Friday afternoon. CSP jumped ahead by claiming the first two sets 25-21 and 25-12 before dropping the third 25-20, but they bounced back to take the fourth 25-18.
The Golden Bears extended the winning streak to 24 as they improved to 3-1 in the all-time series with the Argonauts.
CSP made life tough for West Florida as they held UWF to just .083 hitting (36 kills and 25 errors on 132 attempts) for the match while registering in at .221 (63 kills and 31 errors on 145 attempts) on offense. In addition to the 27 kill advantage, CSP also edged the Argonauts in digs (59-34) and service aces (3-2) while both teams picked up 9.0 total blocks.
Elizabeth Mohr's string of spreading the ball around continued as she picked up 54 assists, four digs and three blocks while leading four Concordia hitters to double figures in kills in the win.
Leading that group was junior
Hope Schiller as Schiller picked up her first career double-double with 15 kills and 10 digs. She also chipped in an ace and a pair of blocks.
Sara Macek and
Brooklyn Lewis followed close behind with 13 kills apiece while
Mariya Sampson added 12 more in the victory. Macek was especially impressive as she committed just two errors on 21 swings to give her a hitting percentage of .524 on the afternoon while piling up five blocks.
Shelby Seurer provided another strong presence at the net with four blocks to go along with her seven kills.
In the back, the trio of
Erin Fallert,
Tori Hanson and
Taylor Soine all joined Schiller with double digit digs, led by 15 from Fallert. Hanson added 12 while Soine contributed 11 in what was an impressive defensive effort.
The opening set proved to be the closest of the match as the two teams shared the lead 11 times with four lead changes throughout the set. Neither team was able to build much of an advantage as the first three point lead came at 13-10 for the Golden Bears. The Argonauts stormed back with five of the next six points to pull ahead 15-14, but CSP responded with four of five to regain the lead for good. The lead eventually hit four at 22-18 before the Golden Bears settled with a 25-21 set win in the first.
After falling behind 3-2 to start the seconds set, it was all Concordia from there. CSP scored the next three points and later added a 10-1 run to extend their lead to double figures at 17-7. The lead would not shrink below eight the rest of the way as it grew as large as 14 at 24-10 before closing it out 25-12 to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
The Golden Bears looked poised to put the match away in three as they grabbed five of the first six points in the third set, but West Florida turned things around to extend the match. UWF used an 8-1 run to turn a 7-3 deficit into an 11-8 lead and held that lead until CSP evened it back up at 18-18. From there, the Argonauts rattled off a 7-2 run to take the set 25-20 and force a fourth set.
Concordia saw an early 5-1 lead disappear again in the fourth as UWF tied it up at 6-6, but the Golden Bears took control from there to gain the lead for good. CSP scored the next two points and gradually increased their advantage to as many as eight at 21-13 en route to a comfortable set win. The Golden Bears' lead remained at least six down the stretch as they finished off the match by winning the fourth set 25-18.
The Golden Bears return to the court tonight in a battle between two of the top three teams in the land as they take on #3 Lewis at 7 p.m. on the campus of MSU Denver.
