SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The second-seeded No. 6 Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (31-5) defeated third-seeded No. 9 Point Loma (28-5) in four sets in the NCAA Tournament Semifinals on Friday afternoon at the Sanford Pentagon.
The Golden Bears will play for their NCAA record-tying 10
th NCAA Championship on Saturday night at 5 p.m. against fourth-seeded No. 10 MSU Denver (30-3). The Golden Bears and Roadrunners have met twice in the NCAA Tournament in prior seasons, with Concordia winning in straight sets in the Sweet Sixteen in 2009 and winning in four sets in the round of 32 in 2010. Concordia holds an all-time record of 9-2 in the national title match, winning seven straight from 2007-2013 and another two in 2016 and 2017, while the two losses came in 2003 and 2022.
With the win, Concordia improves to 86-12 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, including a perfect mark of 12-0 in the national semifinals.
Freshman
Kaelyn Snoozy put on an offensive clinic, logging a career-high 19 kills on a .326 hitting percentage to go alongside four digs. Sophomore
Makenna Nold logged her 16
th double-double of the season in the victory, including her fourth of the NCAA Tournament, finishing with 22 kills and 11 digs while hitting .313. She also contributed two aces, a block, and a set assist.
Junior
Mehlayna Straub put together another strong performance in the middle, logging 13 kills and a solo block while hitting .313. Middle blocker
Kelsey Cooper chipped in nine kills, two aces, and a pair of block assists.
Senior libero
Cassie Sieling held down the back row with 23 digs and seven assists, while
Ellie Sieling added 15 digs and eight kills. Fellow senior
Natalee Rolbiecki added eight digs for CSP.
At setter, redshirt freshman
Audrey Waterman led the way with 33 assists and five digs, while sophomore
Reagan Hickey finished with a 25-assist, 11-dig double-double for her third-highest dig output of the season.
As a team, Concordia hit .277 with 72 kills and 21 errors on 184 swings, while Point Loma hit .249 with 57 kills and 15 errors on 169 attempts. The Bears also carved out a significant advantage at the service line, serving up seven aces to Point Loma's one.
Abigail Nua led the Sea Lions with 21 kills on a .321 hitting percentage, while Macy Reynolds led the defensive effort with 21 digs.
The teams played a tight opening set, with neither squad leading by more than two points through the first 22 rallies. The Golden Bears used a 5-1 run to create some breathing room at 15-10, but the Sea Lions slowly chipped away at the deficit and managed to knot it back up at 20 each later in the set. Two more ties followed at both 21 and 23 each, but a clutch kill from Cooper and a massive block by Cooper and Nold were just enough to give CSP a 25-23 set win.
The Golden Bears found themselves trailing early in the second set as the Sea Lions claimed the first three points of the frame to carve out an early lead. Point Loma remained in the lead at 11-7, but Concordia rattled off six straight points from there to take its first lead of the set. CSP dominated the remainder of the set, closing on an 18-9 run to claim a 25-20 win and go up 2-0 in the match. The Bears used tough serving to their advantage in the set, landing four service aces while holding the Sea Lions without an ace.
Tied at 9-9 early in the third set, Point Loma claimed nine of the following 14 points to take an 18-14 lead. Concordia rallied to tie it back up at both 18 and 19 each, but the Sea Lions put together a 6-2 run to take the third set 25-21.
Point Loma led 9-8 in the fourth set, but the Golden Bears found a spark with a seven-point run on the serve of Rolbiecki to take a 15-9 advantage. Concordia remained firmly in control from that point on, leading by as many as 10 on the way to a 25-16 win to take the match in four sets.
