KEARNEY, Neb. – The third-seeded and third-ranked Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (27-8) fell to top-seeded and second-ranked Nebraska-Kearney (36-0) in five sets (25-19, 19-25, 26-24, 23-25, 13-15) in the NCAA Central Region Championship on Saturday night at Health and Sports Center.
 
For the second year in a row, the Golden Bears' season came to a close in a five-set region title match in Kearney as the Golden Bears dropped to 11-5 all-time in their 16 region championship matches. CSP also moved to 71-8 in 17 trips to the NCAA Tournament with the loss. The win for the Lopers was also their first in four NCAA Tournament meetings with Concordia.
 
After a fairly normal first two set of the match that had a combined two ties and no lead changes, each of the final three sets featured wild momentum swings in both directions in front of a raucous crowd on Buckle Court. In total, there were 10 lead changes and 14 ties over the three sets as UNK saw a lead slip away in the third before the tables were turned in the fourth and the fifth. The Golden Bears held leads of 20-11 in the fourth and 9-4 in the fifth, but were unable to hang on as Nebraska-Kearney came storming back in both sets.
 
It was a historic night statistically for the Golden Bears as their 108 digs were the most in the 25-point scoring format at CSP and the most overall since the team collected 109 against Western Washington on Dec. 1, 2007. Amazingly, the Lopers outpaced that number with 112 digs of their own.
 
Tori Hanson picked up nearly one-third of the team's digs as she out-did her previous career best with 35 digs on the night. Her total was also the most in the 25-point format and the most since Mary Slinger had 39 on Nov. 9, 2007 against MSU Moorhead. She also fell an assist shy of a double-double with nine. She finished the tournament with a staggering 81 digs (6.23 per set) to earn NCAA Central Region All-Tournament Team honors.
 
Joining her on that team was Erin Fallert. The junior put up the second 20-20 performance of the year for the team with career-best 20 kills and 21 digs on the night. She collected 49 kills (3.77 per set) and 45 digs (3.46 per set) over the three matches.
 
Jasmine Mulvihill and Sara Macek were also named to the All-Tournament Team as Mulvihill finished with 19 kills, 10 digs and three blocks while Macek put up 12 kills and five blocks. Mulvihill led the team with 50 kills (3.85 per set) in the tournament while Macek had an impressive 17 blocks (1.31 per set). Macek finished her career with 977 kills as a Golden Bear.
 
Payton Nutter added a double-double with 39 assists and 15 digs while Kennedy Brady added 10 kills, six digs, six blocks and two aces.
 
For the Lopers, Julianne Jackson, Anna Squiers, Maddie Squiers and MK Wolfe were all named to the All-Tournament Team. Jackson led all players with 22 kills to go along with 19 digs and five blocks while Maddie Squiers had 50 assists, 26 digs, four blocks and three kills in the win.
 
UNK also registered a 16.0-11.0 edge in blocks as well as a .211-.179 edge in hitting percentage while the Golden Bears collected a 73-64 advantage in kills and an 8-4 advantage in service aces.
 
With the score even at 2-2 in the opening set, the Golden Bears took control with three in a row and six of seven to build a comfortable cushion at 8-3. From there, the Lopers trimmed it to three on several occasions through the middle portions of the set, including at 13-10, before CSP doubled their advantage with a 3-0 run to make it 16-10. Nebraska-Kearney had it back down to three at 16-13 and again at 18-15, but Concordia followed with a timely 6-2 run to win en route to taking the first set by a score of 25-19.
 
UNK flipped the script early in the second as they scored the first three points before extending their lead to four at 8-4. The lead was back at three at 11-8, but five straight points in favor of the Lopers ballooned the lead out to eight at 16-8. The lead grew to nine at 18-9 and again at 19-10, but the Golden Bears would not go away quietly as they rattled off a huge 8-2 run to pull within three at 21-18. Nebraska-Kearney rebounded with four of the next five to win the set 25-19 and even the match at 1-1.
 
It was Concordia's turn to build an early advantage in the third as they opened with five of the first seven points before holding that same three-point lead at 8-5. Nebraska-Kearney answered back as they pulled even at 11-11 and again at 12-12. CSP regained the advantage with a 3-0 run and still held that lead two points later at 16-13, but a 4-0 run in favor of the Lopers gave them their first lead of the set at 17-16. That proved to be the first of five lead changes in a wild nine point sequence. CSP regained the lead at 18-17 and again at 20-19 before UNK grabbed a two-point cushion following a 3-0 burst to make it 22-20. The Lopers appeared poised to win the set as they forced set point at 24-22, but a massive 4-0 run gave the Golden Bears a 26-24 win in the set in a dramatic shift of momentum.
 
That momentum carried over into the fourth set as Concordia opened on a 7-2 run to build a five-point advantage. The lead grew from there as another big run, this time a 6-0 run, three points later pushed it to double figures at 14-4. The Lopers chipped away to cut it to seven at 14-7 with three straight points but were unable to pull any closer until late as CSP maintained a solid edge. With the lead at nine at 20-11, Nebraska-Kearney put together one last run as they scored five in a row to cut it to four at 20-16. The run continued a few points later as the Lopers turned a 22-17 deficit into a 23-22 lead with a crucial 6-0 run. CSP tied it back up with a point of their own, but UNK completed the comeback with the next two points to win the set 25-23.
 
The Golden Bears rebounded in the fifth as they scored the first three points before rattling off another big 3-0 run midway through the set to make it 9-4 in their favor. Nebraska-Kearney pulled to within two at 9-7 before trimming it down to one at 11-10, but Concordia remained out front at 13-11. The Lopers grabbed the next four in a row, however, to win the set 15-13 and the match 3-2.