SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The third-seeded #8 Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (23-7) advances to the NSIC Tournament semifinals with a five-set win (20-25, 25-23, 15-25, 25-18, 16-14) over sixth-seeded #15 Winona State on Friday afternoon at Sanford Pentagon.
CSP will face second-seeded #8 Minnesota Duluth tomorrow at 4:30 p.m. with the winner booking a place in the championship match on Sunday at 3:00 p.m. CSP and UMD will meet for the third time this season as the Bulldogs have picked up wins in both to take a 30-26 lead in the all-time series.
Trailing 12-8 in the fourth set and 2-1 in the match against the Warriors, the Golden Bears rallied to win the final two sets to stay alive in conference tournament play. CSP was able to overcome 38 hitting errors in the match as they picked up huge points when they needed them to come out on top. CSP finished with a 58-48 edge in kills as well as a 72-69 edge in digs to help the cause.
The duo of
Tori Hanson and
Erin Fallert were a big part in keeping plays alive as they combined for over half of the team's digs with 42. Hanson reached 20+ digs for the 10
th time on the season, finishing with a match-best 26 while
Erin Fallert added 16 digs, 14 kills and four blocks for her 17
th double-double of the year.
Fallert was one of three Golden Bears to register double figures in kills as
Jasmine Mulvihill nearly added a double-double of her own with a match-high 19 kills to go along with eight digs and four aces while
Kennedy Brady hit .417 with 13 kills and four blocks.
Payton Nutter had 55 of the team's 58 assists while also chipping in six digs.
Madison Larson paced the Warriors with 16 kills while Bre Maloney put up a double-double with 41 assists and 16 digs in the loss.
CSP found themselves out front 4-3 early in the first set, but the Warriors quickly turned the momentum in their favor with six of seven to take a 9-5 lead. The Golden Bears scratched their way back to within two at 10-8 and remained within three at the 15-12 mark before another burst, this time a 7-0 run, gave Winona State a double-digit advantage at 22-12. Concordia responded with four in a row and six of seven to make things interesting down the stretch, but they were unable to complete the comeback as WSU took the first set 25-20.
After a back and forth start to the second set, the Warriors strung together three straight points and six of eight to turn a 7-6 lead into a 13-8 advantage. The WSU lead still sat at five at 18-13 before the Golden Bears came storming back. CSP rattled off a 6-1 run to tie the score at 19-19 before jumping ahead late at 24-22 with another 3-0 run a few points later. The Warriors survived the first set point, but they were unable to hold off the Golden Bears any longer as Concordia evened the match at 1-1 with a 25-23 set win in the second.
Winona State put the Golden Bears in a deep hole right off the bat in the third as WSU opened on a 6-1 run to force a quick CSP timeout. Concordia responded with a 6-2 run of their own to close the gap to one, but the Warriors rebounded to regain a comfortable edge. The WSU lead was back at five at 15-10 before the Golden Bears had it back to two at 15-12. The Warriors held Concordia to just three points the rest of the set as they cruised to a 25-15 set win while taking a 2-1 lead in the match.
Following an even start in which the two teams traded points early in the fourth, Winona State picked up five points in a row to turn a 6-5 deficit into a 10-6 lead. The deficit still sat at four for 12-8 before Concordia exploded for a 6-0 run to jump ahead 14-12. CSP continued to manage a lead of a point or two throughout the middle of the set until a massive 6-0 run stretched it to 22-15 late. The Warriors answered with three in a row, but the Golden Bears responded right back with three the other way to force a fifth set with a 25-18 win in the fourth.
Things were looking tough for CSP early in the fifth as WSU opened with four of the first five points, but the Golden Bears showed they would not go away. The Warrior lead sat at two at 7-5 before three straight Concordia points put CSP in front 8-7. Winona State turned it around quickly with a 3-0 run to regain a two-point edge at 10-8 and found themselves two points away from victory at 13-11 several points later. Concordia found their footing as they forced a match point with the next three in a row before closing out the dramatic win 16-14 with two in a row one point later.
