DENVER – The No. 3 Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (3-2) opened play at the Colorado Premier Challenge on Friday, falling to Lewis (Ill.) (5-1) in straight sets and sweeping Palm Beach Atlantic (Fla.) (4-2) on the campus of MSU Denver.
With each team in the group going 1-1 on the day, the tournament's tiebreaking protocol will send the Golden Bears to the silver bracket on the campus of MSU Denver on day two. Concordia will take on tournament co-host No. 7 MSU Denver in a rematch of last season's NCAA championship match at 10 a.m. (CT) before facing off with one of Central Missouri or West Texas A&M, who are both tied for 25
th in the most recent AVCA poll, later in the day.
MATCH ONE: Lewis 3, Concordia 0
The Golden Bears opened the day with a match against Lewis (Ill.), falling to the Flyers in three sets.
Junior
Makenna Nold topped her season high with 18 kills in the match while hitting an efficient .343. Nold also contributed four digs and four total blocks on the defensive side.
Sophomore
Kaelyn Snoozy tallied 11 kills and four digs, and senior
Julia Gordon joined her in double digits with 10 kills on .333 hitting.
Defensively, freshman
Abby Rolbiecki had her strongest outing yet as a Golden Bear, leading the team with 12 digs. Sophomore
Josie Tingelhoff neared double figures with nine digs of her own.
At setter,
Reagan Hickey led the way with 32 assists while
Audrey Waterman added 14.
For the Flyers, Marin Grossman led the way with 11 kills.
Despite the loss, the Golden Bears held advantages in points (57-49), kills (50-41), and assists (49-36).
Breaking a 9-9 tie early in the opening set, the Flyers claimed five of the following six points to take a 14-10 lead. The Golden Bears managed to cut the deficit to a single point on three separate occasions late in the set, but the Flyers never relinquished the advantage on the way to a 25-21 win.
Concordia found itself trailing 19-14 late in the second set, but the Golden Bears clawed back into it with six of the next seven points to tie it up at 20 each. The Flyers responded with two points in a row to give themselves a narrow lead that would hold the rest of the way in a 25-23 win.
CSP came out strong and carved out an 11-5 lead early in the third set, but the Flyers chipped away and used a five-point run shortly after to regain the lead at 15-14. The teams jockeyed for positioning late in the set, with each squad holding set-point opportunities as they played into extra points. The Flyers found a way to finish strong, breaking a 27-27 tie with two straight points to complete the sweep.
MATCH TWO: Concordia 3, Palm Beach Atlantic 0
Just the second ever meeting between the programs, Concordia earned its first win over the Sailfish with a sweep.
Nold led the way once again with a 14-kill, 13-dig double-double, hitting at an outstanding .520 clip. Senior
Mehlayna Straub tallied 13 kills on a blistering .619 hitting percentage and led the team with five total blocks.
Gordon matched her season high with 12 digs on .333 hitting, and junior
Kelsey Cooper added nine kills on .444 hitting.
Sophomore transfer
Marta Leeland logged a season-high 13 digs for Concordia's back row, and Rolbiecki added six digs of her own.
Pacing the offense was the duo of Waterman and Hickey, finishing with 24 and 22 assists, respectively.
In a match that was otherwise nearly statistically even across the board, offensive efficiency proved to be the difference as CSP hit .377 with just eight attack errors, while Palm Beach Atlantic hit .281 with 19 attack errors.
The opening set contained nine ties early on, but the Golden Bears took the lead for what proved to be the final time at 16-15. The Sailfish kept it close for the remainder of the set, but a five-point run by CSP to go up 22-17 proved to be just enough to escape with a 25-21 set win.
In set two, Concordia looked poised to run away with it late, breaking a 17-17 tie with a run of four straight points. The Sailfish once again proved they would not go down easily as they stormed back to tie the set at 22-22. The Golden Bears recovered at that point, winning three of the next four points to take the set and grab a 2-0 lead in the match.
The third set was a dramatic affair, containing 21 ties and 10 lead changes. Playing well into extra points, the Golden Bears fought off seven set-point opportunities for the Sailfish to claim the 33-31 win and secure the sweep. A PBA attack error and kills from Straub and Cooper provided the final stamp on the victory for CSP.
