ST. PAUL, Minn. – No. 1 Concordia University punched its ticket to the championship match of the 2012 NSIC/US Bank Volleyball Tournament on Saturday night, defeating Northern State in straight sets (25-20, 25-20, 25-15). The Golden Bears, who improve to 27-3 overall, will face No. 2 Southwest Minnesota State on Sunday at 3:00 p.m. for the NSIC playoff title and an automatic bid into the NCAA Central Region Tournament.  

After a back-and-forth beginning to the first set, Concordia settled in and turned a 2-3 deficit into an 18-9 lead – its largest of the set. Facing CU’s set point, Northern State claimed three straight points to cut the deficit to 24-20, but a kill by Ellie Duffy (Fridley, Minn.) ended the game.

Duffy posted five kills in the opening frame to lead the Bears. As a unit, CU hit at a .452 rate (16-2-31) and held the Wolves to a .200 percentage (13-6-35).

Duffy guided the Bears to a 5-0 lead to open the second frame. She recorded a kill to start the set and then served two aces, paired with an NSU attack error and bad set, forcing the Wolves to take a timeout. CU built its lead to 11-4 before Northern State came back with a 10-to-2 run to tie the set 14-14. After a short lapse in the offense, Brady Starkey’s squad regained the lead en route to another 25-20 decision.

Concordia hit .294 in set two with 15 kills (five errors) on 34 attempts.

After a 2-2 tie to start the third, the Golden Bears ran out to a 7-2 lead and never looked back. They piled on the points and led by as much as 13 points (18-5) before Northern State made a run. The Wolves would come as close as 21-15, but the Bears took the final four points to close the door.

The Bears used a balanced attack to capture the win. Duffy led the way with 11 kills on 23 attempts for a .348 attack percentage. Cassie Haag (Plymouth, Minn.) was the most efficient, hitting at a .692 clip with 10 kills (one error) on 13 attempts. Ashley Murtha (Apple Valley, Minn. ) also tallied 10 kills on 25 attempts for a .280 rate.

Kayla Koenecke (Delano, Minn.) was one kill shy of another double-double, posting nine kills and a game-high 13 digs. Amanda Konetchy (Victoria, Minn.) led the team to a .362 attack (45-11-94) with 37 assists.

Kelsey Chambers led the Wolves with 11 kills and a .364 rate, while Ella Campbell recorded 11 digs. As a team, NSU hit .176 (35-17-102).

CU has now won 17 matches in a row and 16 consecutive at the Gangelhoff Center this season. All of the Bears’ wins at home have been in straight sets.

Sunday’s championship match will mark the third meeting between the Bears and Mustangs this season. Concordia won both matches in straight sets.