No Drama Necessary
MOORHEAD, Minn. (11/12/11)—There would be no drama needed on Saturday for Concordia in the NCAA Tournament Regional Semifinals. The Cobbers also made sure there would be no need for a fifth set, or an extra set of finger nails, as they swept Bethel 25-23, 25-22, 25-18 to advance to the Regional Championship match for the second time in the past four years.
Less than 24 hours after they played the most dramatic match in school history, Concordia took care of business by using a stifling defense to stop any Bethel offensive attack. The Cobbers had 9.0 team blocks, 16 more digs and held the Royals to a .067 hitting percentage in picking up their 27th win on the season. The 27 overall wins is the most since 1997 and ties for the second most in program history. With the victory over BU, Concordia also ran their winning streak to 15 matches. In addition, they have now won 21 consecutive matches at home in a streak that dates back to the 2009 season.
Concordia's defense and ability to come up with critical points in key set situations propelled CC to the win.
The Cobbers were tied 21-21 in the opening set before coming up with four of the final six points to win 25-23.
Bethel (23-10) played with the lead during the middle of set No.2 but then Concordia rattled off five straight points after being down 20-18 and went on to win 25-22. The Cobbers then put the third set away in the first seven points. CC bolted to a 6-1 lead and never let Bethel get within three points and rolled to the seven-point win.
The Cobbers had five different players with at least 10 digs in the match as they came away with 78 digs. The CC front line did not allow the Royals to hit better than .190 in any set and limited the Royals to just 29 total kills in the match.
Jenna Green had team highs in kills and digs for Concordia. She put down 18 winners and came away with 16 digs. Senior middle hitters Katie Vohnoutka and Ashley Beseman both had nine kills in the three sets. Vohnoutka also had 11 digs and three blocks while Beseman also had three blocks. Alison Bruggeman and Rachel Wiinanen also had double-digit dig totals. Bruggeman had 14 digs and added two blocks. Amy Sykora had a match-high 38 assists and 11 digs.
The Royals were limited in their attacks all match long and did not have a front line player with more than eight kills. Nicole Wriedt had a team-high eight kills. Valerie Smith recorded 21 digs and Kate Smith amassed 21 assists.
Concordia will now play conference rival St. Thomas in the Regional Championship for the chance to move on to the Elite 8. The Cobbers shared the MIAC regular-season title with the Tommies and then beat UST 3-2 to earn the conference tournament title. CC has beaten St.Thomas twice in 2011 with both victories coming in Moorhead in Memorial Auditorium.