Concordia Continues NCAA Dominance with 3-1 Victory over Minnesota State
MARSHALL, Minn. – No. 2 seed Concordia University opened the NCAA Division II Central Region Tournament with a 3-1 (21-25, 25-19, 25-16, 25-11) victory over No. 7 seed Minnesota State, Mankato on Thursday in Marshall.
The victory for CU was its 17th straight and improves its record to 27-4 overall, while MSU ends its season with a 20-8 record. CU, ranked No. 1 in this week’s AVCA Top 25 poll, is making its eighth straight NCAA appearance and is now 29-4 all-time. MSU is now 2-8 all-time in eight NCAA appearances.
Emily Palkert led the CU offense hitting .469 with 18 kills, while Cassie Haag racked up 17 kills on 32 attempts.
Concordia, the three-time defending NCAA national champions, dropped the first set as the Mavericks hit a blistering .455 with 18 kills. The Golden Bears responded to win set two and never looked back in earning their first-ever victory over the Mavericks in the NCAA tournament.
MSU, ranked No. 16, was paced by Chelsea Fogarty, who hit .517 with 15 kills on 29 attempts, while Amanda Beekman finished with 11 kills on 46 attempts.
Concordia will now advance to the region semifinals on Friday night at 5 p.m. versus either No. 3 Wayne State or No. 6 Metro State.
NOTES & QUOTES
Minnesota State
Head Coach Dennis Amundson on first-round loss...
"You have to give credit to Concordia-St. Paul they do a lot of little things well. You can appreciate how hard they play in the big moments. I’m really proud of the effort the kids gave and where our program is at. We’re moving forward from here."
Senior setter Brittany Stamer on jumping out to a 1-0 lead...
"We knew we had to leave it all on the floor. I think we had a lot of fire coming out. Concordia fought back, and we didn’t hold our own against them the last three games. But we left it on the floor."
Senior outside hitter Amanda Beekman on MSU's play after the first set...
"They are a very balanced offense, and they have hitters coming from every direction. It’s hard to play defense around it. Credit goes to them. They stepped up from each position."
Beekman on playing in her hometown of Marshall, Minn...
"It was kind of bittersweet. It was nice to see my family and see others who have supported me throughout my volleyball career. But it didn’t end on a win, so that’s where they bitter part comes into it."
Concordia University, St Paul
Head Coach Brady Starkey on winning opening-round match...
"We’re pretty fired up to be here. I thought we did a good job; we played well defensively, especially after the first game. Mankato did a very good job of asserting themselves offensively against us in the first game. It shows how powerful they can be. We did a good job of composting our selves, coming back hard and playing the last three games. "
Starkey on playing first-round game not in St. Paul
"It’s kind of nice, to be honest. Otherwise, when we’re hosting, we sit there and watch all day--three matches in a row. I can tell that these guys get really amped up. This was kind of nice; we just showed up to the gym, and it was like a normal match."
Senior middle blocker Emily Palkert on dropping the first set...
"We seem to have a bad habit of doing that this year. We had been there before, so we knew we had to work harder than that. (Minnesota State) came to play. We realized we weren’t’ gong to have any points given to us and that we had to work hard the rest of the match."
Palkert on not playing first-round match at home...
"It’s different, but in a good way because it teaches us to play anywhere—not just in our home gym. We were excited to play somewhere else."
Junior outside hitter Megan Carlson on CU's improved performance in final three sets...
"We all started coming together as a team. Our intensity stepped up a lot. Our setter (Konetchy) stepped up; she played great the whole game. She started making good decisions on who set, which helps our hitters a lot. On the outside I felt a lot more opened up because she was drawing blockers to her."
