DENVER, Colo. – The #2 Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (5-2) advanced to the Colorado Premier Challenge championship match as they battled their way to a sweep (25-13, 30-28, 27-25) of #14 Central Missouri (5-2) on Saturday morning on the campus of Regis University.
The Golden Bears head to the title match for the fourth year in a row looking to grab their sixth tournament crown. CSP last won the Colorado Premier Challenge in 2016 and had previously won it in 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2013. CSP also remained unbeaten against the Jennies as they improved to 9-0 in the all-time series. Concordia will face the winner of Southwest Minnesota State and Missouri Western tonight at 8 p.m. at Regis.
Despite the level play in the final two sets, Concordia dominated statistically with a 54-40 edge in kills, a 63-46 edge in digs and a 7.0-5.0 edge in total blocks in the match. CSP was also significantly more efficient as they finished at .309 hitting as a team compared to .160 for Central Missouri.
Elizabeth Mohr played an important role in the team's success as she tallied 45 assists, good for 15.00 per set, in the victory. She also added 10 digs for the double-double as well as a pair of blocks in an all-around performance.
Brooklyn Lewis benefitted from Mohr's efforts as she committed just two errors and led all players with 18 kills as she hit .516 in the match.
Hope Schiller joined her in double figured with 14 kills while nearly picking up the double-double with nine digs.
Tori Hanson was once again a rock in the back with another 20+ dig effort as she finished with 21 digs (7.00 per set).
Erin Fallert nearly matched that total with 17 digs to go along with seven kills.
Ally Offerdahl did a little bit of everything in the loss for UCM as she finished with 31 assists to go along with seven digs, three kills and two aces in a full stat line.
The Golden Bears wasted little time carving out a lead in the first set, using a 3-0 run to quickly build a 6-2 advantage. The lead ballooned from there as Concordia put it out of reach with a stretch of 12 of 13 points going in their favor to turn a 9-7 lead to a 21-8 lead. CSP's edge grew to as many as 14 before the Golden Bears settled with a final margin of 25-13.
The second set proved to be a big turning point in the match as the Jennies found themselves within striking distance to win the set only to see the Golden Bears snatch it away at the end. The two teams split points early on as there were six ties by the 10-10 mark before UCM started to pull away. Central Missouri scored four of the next five before extending their lead to five at 18-13 a few points later. Still up four at 23-19, the Jennies saw their lead disappear with four points in a row going to CSP. UCM forced set points at 24-23 and again at 25-24 before Concordia forced one of their own at 26-25. The Golden Bears survived a third and a fourth set point for Central Missouri at 27-26 and 28-27 before three straight points gave CSP a dramatic 30-28 set win and a commanding 2-0 lead in the match.
The dramatics did not end there as it took more than 25 points to settle the third set as well. After seeing 12 ties and five lead changes in the second, there were 14 ties and five lead changes in the third as it featured even more back-and-forth play. CSP held slight leads early on before pushing it to three at 16-13 and again at 17-14 as they looked to put the match away. Central Missouri evened it up at 17-17 with three in a row before using a 5-0 run shortly after to take a three point lead of their own at 23-20. The Golden Bears scored the next four to force a set point and they capitalized on their third opportunity as they closed out the match with a 27-25 set win.
