By: CJ Siewert

TOURNAMENT WEBSITE |  MATCH HIGHLIGHTS | PRESS CONFERENCES: CONCORDIA | MINNESOTA DULUTH

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Top-ranked Concordia-St. Paul punched its ticket to the NCAA Central Region Championship on Friday night, defeating No. 5 Minnesota Duluth in straight sets (25-21, 25-17, 25-21) at the Gangelhoff Center. The Golden Bears make their 10th consecutive appearance to the region title match with a 29-5 overall record and will square off against No. 2 Nebraska-Kearney on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. The winner will earn a trip to the NCAA Division II Championship Tournament in Pensacola, Fla. on December 6-8.

CU Volleyball vs. Minnesota Duluth 11.30.2012 - Images by Justin Oakman

“Really proud of our girls tonight,” Concordia head coach Brady Starkey said. “I thought they got out there and showed composure, stepped up and really played hard the entire night – just consistent. We had some goofy moments, but after those moments it was back to playing the way we know how to play. I thought we did a really good job of handling the ball. Amanda did a really great job of distributing the ball to everybody. We had some kids that got hot and it was a good match for us.”

Amanda Konetchy (Victoria, Minn.) benefitted from her teammates playing in system for the majority of the match, serving up 40 assists, which led to a .287 team attack percentage (43-14-101). “When we pass in our system, we are able to run it well and can be unstoppable,” Konetchy acknowledged. “And when we’re out of system, we’ve been working on that in practice so that we’re prepared on a night when we are not passing as well as we normally do.”

Right side hitter Kayla Koenecke (Delano, Minn.) was a force in all aspects of the game, leading the team with 14 kills and a .545 attack percentage (14-2-22), while adding six digs and four block assists. She, too, felt the team benefitted from playing in system more. “It just helps a lot when we play in system,” Koenecke said. “Amanda doesn’t like those high passes very much. And I feel like we were lighter today, just having more fun.”

Ellie Duffy (Fridley, Minn.) added 10 kills on 25 attempts for a .320 clip, while Taylor Dordan (Blaine, Minn.) and Ashley Murtha (Apple Valley, Minn.) led the defensive efforts with nine digs apiece. As a team, the Golden Bears registered seven blocks without an error.

To start the match, Concordia took the opening point and never gave up the lead throughout the first set. Minnesota Duluth came within three points late in the set at 23-20, but the Bears claimed the final two points on a pair of Koenecke kills to secure to win.

CU jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the second to force a UMD timeout. After the break, the Bears continued to increase their lead and led by as much as 10 points three times (16-6, 17-7, 19-9). The Bulldogs closed the gap to six points at 23-17, but two more kills from Koenecke sealed the set.

Through two sets, the Golden Bears neutralized UMD’s top hitter in Kate Lange. The NSIC Player of the Year was held to a .000 attack percentage (6-6-21) in the first two frames. “Our middle did a really good job of getting out and closing on them,” Starkey noted. “I thought we served really tough and they still passed pretty well, considering that, but we were more relentless with our serves. I thought Kayla did a really good job of setting the tone early of sealing into the middle of the court and got Lange a couple of times, slowed her rhythm down.”
 
The Bulldogs led 3-2 to begin the third, but CU regained the lead with a 6-to-1 run and never looked back. The score remained within four points until a service ace by Duffy gave the Bears a 22-17 lead, leading to a 25-21 victory.

Minnesota Duluth was led by Lange with 10 kills on 31 attempts (six errors) for a .129 attack percentage. Samantha Hertaus contributed nine digs, while Ashley Hinsch served up 32 assists, resulting in a .188 team attack rate (39-18-112).

“Really proud of the way they performed,” UMD head coach Jim Boos said. "Obviously we would have like to better as a collective unit and Concordia makes that difficult and takes advantage of things that you don’t do well at times. Tonight we just seemed to never get the momentum going our way and playing the way would have liked to.

Saturday’s region title match will be a rematch of the 2010 Central Region Championship where Concordia swept Nebraska-Kearney 3-0 in Marshall, Minn. The Bears are 7-2 all-time in region title matches and have won five straight, leading to five consecutive national titles. The Lopers have proven to be a tough out in the region, defeating No. 6 Washburn and No. 2 Southwest Minnesota State.

“I saw that Kearney is a big, physical team,” Starkey said. “They have a big, physical setter that is capable of throwing the ball all over the place. So we have to make sure that we are cognitive of that. And they’ve got five kids that can hit the ball.”