#1 Concordia sweeps #6 Cal State San Bernardino

Dec. 02– LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The #1 Golden Bears kept their hopes alive for a fourth straight national title Thursday afternoon as they swept #6 Cal State San Bernardino 3-0 (30-28, 25-17, 25-20). Concordia extended their match winning streak to 20 and their NCAA Postseason streak to 22 with the victory. First Team All-American Cassie Haag led the Bears with 10 kills and four blocks on a .318 hitting percentage. AVCA National Freshman of the Year Amanda Konetchy had 34 assists in the victory.

CU advances to their fourth straight NCAA Semifinal with the win and is now 5-1 All-Time in the NCAA Quarterfinals. Concordia will play tomorrow afternoon at 2 p.m. CST against the winner of #23 Dowling and Clarion.

The Golden Bears got nine kills from both Emily Palkert and Kayla Koenecke, Palkert added three solo blocks while Koenecke had four aces. Concordia had eight aces in the match getting two from both Taylor Fieldsted and Konetchy.

Senior Krista Erickson and Fieldsted both had nine digs to lead the CU defense. The Golden Bears held the Coyotes to .228 and held AVCA National Player of the Year Samantha Middleborn to a .333 average which is well below her season average of .452.

In the first set it took awhile for both teams to calm their nerves. The Golden Bears fell behind early 7-5 but scored five out of the next six to take a 10-8 lead and force a Cal State timeout. CSUSB tied the match back up at 13 and took a 14-13 lead in the middle of the match. CU took the lead back at 15-14 but the lead went right back to CSUSB at 16-15. Cal State kept the lead for until CU scored three straight to take a 22-20 lead forcing another CSUSB timeout. Concordia got set point at 24-22 but the Coyotes fought off the set and tied it at 24. CU had another set point at 26-25 but again was denied as Cal State scored two straight points to have their own set point. Concordia called a timeout and scored two straight points to take a 28-27 lead. Again the Golden Bears were denied but ended the set by scoring two straight points to win 30-28.

"It was a shaky match but I think we managed well and were able to serve tough which was big," said Head Coach Brady Starkey

Concordia used the momentum from set one to jump out to a 8-3 lead in the second set. Cal State fought back to within one at 11-10 but the Golden Bears scored six of the next seven to take a commanding 17-12 lead. Concordia took set two 25-17 thanks to a .407 hitting percentage in the set.

The Golden Bears against jumped out in set three to an early lead going up 6-3. Cal State again battled back and ended up taking the lead 10-8 midway through the set. CU fought back after a timeout and took a 13-10 lead. Cal State tied the match up and 13 and again at 14 and 15 before taking a 16-15 lead. CU responded by scoring three straight and forcing a CSUSB timeout. Following the timeout it was Cal State who scored three straight and took a 19-18 lead. CU took the lead back at 20-19 and following a Cal State kill, CU scored five straight to win the set 25-20.

Coach Brady Starkey explained what he told the team late in set three, "I challenged them to step up defensively and play the game they love to play. This team gets fired up when you challenge them."