ST. PAUL, Minn. -- In a thrilling match between the top two teams in the country the No. 2 Concordia-St. Paul (12-1, 4-0 NSIC) knocked off the undefeated No. 1 Minnesota-Duluth (12-1, 3-1 NSIC) in five sets. The two teams traded the first four sets with the Bulldogs winning the first and third and the Golden Bears taking the second and fourth before Concordia took the fifth.
The Bulldogs came out firing in the first set, outhitting the Golden Bears .268 to .216. Concordia held an early 5-4 lead before a 5-0 UMD run gave the Bulldogs the lead for good. Concordia trailed by as much as four in the set and cut the lead all the way to one at 24-23, but a Golden Bear service error gave Minnesota Duluth a 25-23 win in the first.
The second set was looking to be heading in the same direction as UMD held a 15-11 lead, but Concordia responded by scoring 14 of the next 15 points to even the match at one apiece in a 25-16 set win. The Golden Bear offense found a rhythm in the second as the team rebounded to hit .351 in the set. Heather Schiller collected five kills on just seven attacks and Erienne Lauersdorf added five kills of her own in the set.
The two teams went back and forth in the early stages of the third, but Minnesota-Duluth used a 9-1 run to turn an 8-8 tie into a 17-9 advantage. The lead would get as large as 10 at 21-11, but Concordia fought all the way back within two at 24-22. A Monica Turner kill put the set away and put the Golden Bears a set away from defeat. Kate Lange added eight more kills to her total in the third.
The resilient Concordia squad fought to keep the match alive and led 13-8 in the fourth before a 7-2 Bulldog run evened the score at 15 all. With all the momentum in favor of UMD, CU responded with one of their trademark runs to take a commanding lead at 23-16. A few late Minnesota-Duluth points would make it interesting but the Golden Bears forced a deciding fifth set with a 25-20 victory. Emily McDonough led a balanced CU attack in the fourth with six kills and Kayla Koenecke and Heather Schiller each chipped in five each.
Concordia used the momentum from the end of the fourth set and brought it into the fifth. After UMD grabbed a 4-3 lead, the Golden Bears picked up seven of the next eight points en route to a decisive 15-8 set win to defeat the No. 1 Bulldogs and hand them their first loss of the season.
The Bulldogs came out firing in the first set, outhitting the Golden Bears .268 to .216. Concordia held an early 5-4 lead before a 5-0 UMD run gave the Bulldogs the lead for good. Concordia trailed by as much as four in the set and cut the lead all the way to one at 24-23, but a Golden Bear service error gave Minnesota Duluth a 25-23 win in the first. Conference Player of the Year Kate Lange led the way in the first with five kills and five digs for UMD and freshman Riley Hanson (Nevis, Minn.) added five kills for the Golden Bears.
The second set was looking to be heading in the same direction as UMD held a 15-11 lead, but Concordia responded by scoring 14 of the next 15 points to even the match at one apiece in a 25-16 set win. The Golden Bear offense found a rhythm in the second as the team rebounded to hit .351 in the set. Heather Schiller (Coon Rapids, Minn.) collected five kills on just seven attacks and Erienne Lauersdorf (Watertown, Wis. ) added five kills of her own in the set.
The two teams went back and forth in the early stages of the third, but Minnesota Duluth used a 9-1 run to turn an 8-8 tie into a 17-9 advantage. The lead would get as large as 10 at 21-11, but Concordia fought all the way back within two at 24-22. A Monica Turner kill put the set away and put the Golden Bears a set away from defeat. Lange added eight more kills to her total in the third.
The resilient Concordia squad fought to keep the match alive and led 13-8 in the fourth before a 7-2 Bulldog run evened the score at 15 all. With all the momentum in favor of UMD, CU responded with one of their trademark runs to take a commanding lead at 23-16. A few late Minnesota Duluth points would make it interesting but the Golden Bears forced a deciding fifth set with a 25-20 victory. Emily McDonough (Stillwater, Minn. ) led a balanced CU attack in the fourth with six kills and Kayla Koenecke (Delano, Minn. ) and Heather Schiller each chipped in five each.
Concordia used the momentum from the end of the fourth set and brought it into the fifth. After UMD grabbed a 4-3 lead, the Golden Bears picked up seven of the next eight points en route to a decisive 15-8 set win to defeat the #1 Bulldogs and hand them their first loss of the season.
Concordia showcased a balanced attack on offense with four players finishing in double digits in kills. Erienne Lauersdorf finished with a team high 17 kills and added 11 digs to pick up her first career double-double. Schiller had 16 kills and a .389 hitting percentage as well as picking up seven blocks (four solo). Koenecke and McDonough each had double-doubles as they had 15 kill/26 dig and 13/18 dig nights, respectively. Defensively, Taylor Dordan tied Koenecke for the team lead with 26 digs.
Kate Lange led the Bulldog attack with 21 kills on a staggering 70 attacks. She also had 15 digs on the night. Setter Ashley Hinsch had 53 assists and libero Julie Rainey had 24 digs as well for UMD.
