KEARNEY, Neb. – The fourth-seeded #9 Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (24-9) fell to third-seeded #8 Washburn (32-4) in the NCAA Central Region Championship match in five sets (22-25, 25-23, 25-15, 18-25, 11-15) on Saturday night on the campus of Nebraska-Kearney.
 
The Golden Bears saw their 14-match winning streak in the tournament snapped as they fell to 69-7 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. The loss dropped CSP to 11-4 in region title matches and 3-2 against the Ichabods.
 
Washburn made life tough for the Golden Bear offense with 14.0 blocks on the match to hold CSP to .189 hitting on the night. The Ichabods were especially potent in the final two sets as they held Concordia to .122 in the fourth and -.038 in the fifth to complete the comeback. CSP did manage to outpace WU with a 73-57 edge in kills and a 77-72 edge in digs in the loss.
 
The Golden Bears had four named to the All-Tournament Team as seniors Elizabeth Mohr, Brooklyn Lewis and Hope Schiller as well as sophomore Tori Hanson earned the honors.
 
Mohr reached 60+ digs for the seventh time on the season as she compiled 65 assists and six digs to bring her season average to a nation-leading 13.17 assists per set. She finishes her career with 3,531 assists, fifth-most in the DII-era at Concordia.
 
Lewis led all players with 20 kills in the loss as she reached 20+ kills for the sixth time on the year. She finishes the year with a team-best 3.71 kills per set while her 3.67 career kills per set ranks third in program history. She also finishes 20^th in program history with 1,049 career kills.
 
Schiller put up a massive double-double with 16 kills and 24 digs as she put up her fifth double-double in six matches and 15^th of the season on the night. Her 1,290 career digs rank 13^th in program history while she also collected 749 career kills.
 
Hanson finished two digs shy of Schiller's mark with 22 as she collected 19 or more in all three matches in the regional to bring her season average to a team-leading 4.47 per set.
 
Sara Macek also added 18 kills and six blocks while Kennedy Brady had 11 kills and four blocks in the loss.
 
Erica Montgomery paced the Ichabods with 16 kills en route to earning an All-Tournament spot while Katie Skeeter led the team with 15 digs. Allison Maxwell, Shayla Conner and Genna Berg were also named to the All-Tournament Team for Washburn.
 
The Ichabods came out firing with five of the first seven points of the match, but the Golden Bears quickly shifted it in their favor with a 9-1 run to take a five point lead at 11-6. Concordia pushed their lead to six as late as 15-9 before Washburn started to chip away. WU grabbed eight of the next 10 points to even up the set at 17-17 before the Ichabods eventually regained the lead at 22-19 following a 4-0 run. The two teams alternated points from there on out as Washburn took the opening set 25-22.
 
It was all Washburn to start the second set as they scored the first four points and nine of the first 10, but the Golden Bears quickly fought their way back in it with an impressive run of their own. CSP rattled off an incredible 11-0 run to take a 12-9 lead before WU tied it back up at 14-14 with five of seven. It was back and forth from there with nine more ties and two more lead changes in the set. The two teams remained deadlocked until the 22-22 mark as Concordia came through with a strong finish as they scored three of the final four to win it 25-23 and even the match at 1-1.
 
After seeing the Ichabods take early leads in both of the first two sets, Concordia flipped the script with a strong start in the third as they opened on a 7-1 run before pushing it to eight at 10-2. The Golden Bears maintained a comfortable lead throughout much of the rest of the set as Washburn pulled within five at 11-6 and four at 16-12 but they were unable to get any closer. CSP pulled away late as they used a 7-1 burst to push their lead to double figures at 23-13 before closing it out a few points later at 25-15 to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
 
After a 2-0 start for the Golden Bears to open the fourth, Washburn took control with 10 of the next 13 to double up CSP at 10-5. The Golden Bears cut it back to three at 10-7 and again at 11-8, but four in a row for the Ichabods pushed it out to seven at 16-8 as Concordia used their second timeout. WU's lead eventually reached double figures at 21-10 following another 4-0 run before they put the set away at 25-18 to force a decisive fifth set.
 
Washburn put the Golden Bears in an early hole to start the fifth as they opened on a 5-1 run, but Concordia clawed their way back in it. With the Ichabods still holding a four point lead at 8-4, CSP rattled off three in a row to pull within one at 8-7 as Washburn called timeout. WU responded with two in a row to push it back to three and maintained that edge at 11-8 before Concordia pulled back within one at 11-10. The Golden Bears managed just one more point as the Ichabods finished on a 4-1 run to win the set 15-11 and the match 3-2.