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News
News
NO.16 BULLDOGS LOSE FIVE-GAME HEARTBREAKER TO TOP-RANKED CONCORDIA-ST. PAUL
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
In front of its largest home crowd this season, the University of Minnesota Duluth came closer to upending No.1 Concordia-St. Paul than any other team has this season. Prior to Tuesday night, no team had pushed the Golden Bears, who came in riding a 64-match winning streak, to a fifth set. The Bulldogs did just that, but ended up falling short in the decisive fifth game, ending their hopes of an upset and giving Concordia-St. Paul a 3-2 (26-24, 21-25, 25-23, 21-25, 15-10) Northern Sun Intercollegiate Confernce victory at Romano Gymnasium.
No.16 UMD (19-7 overall and 12-4 in the NSIC) grabbed all the momentum early by winning the first game. Down 24-23 and facing game point, the Bulldogs rallied to force a tie-breaker. After pulling ahead, juniors Katie Kuffel and Alyssa Nelson combined on a game-winning block, sending the crowd into an uproar.
The Golden Bears (28-0; 16-0) then took the next two games to pull ahead 2-1. UMD battled back and won the fourth set to knot the score at 2-2, but Concordia-St. Paul proved why they are the nation's top-ranked team and held on in the final set to hand the Bulldogs their first home loss. The victory runs Concordia-St. Paul's winning streak to 65 matches overall and 49 straight in NSIC play.
The Bulldogs hit .201 collectively, sticking with the .204 hitting percentage put up by the Golden Bears, who sit atop the NSIC in efficiency (UMD ranks second). UMD did more damage around the net with 13 total team blocks compared to Concordia-St. Paul's eight.
"I'm certainly happy with the way we performed tonight," Bulldog head coach Jim Boos said. "Obviously Concordia played well but I don't think that's the best ball they've played."
Junior middle blocker April Hansen led UMD's attack with 19 kills while hitting at a .394 clip. Alyssa Nelson chipped in with 16 kills of her own and hit .294. Freshman Anna Zyvoloski registered a double-double with 10 kills and 15 digs.
Rachel Jacobson's 20 digs were the most of any Bulldog defender. Nelson made a significant defensive impact as well, as she racked up a block solo and a staggering eight block assists.
UMD can take many positives from the match despite the loss, but Boos thinks his squad may have missed out on a golden opportunity.
"In your home gym when you've got a chance you better take advantage of it because you don't get many chances against a team like that," Boos said.
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