UMD Vollyball’s Record Setting Season Comes To A Close

Nov 18, 2011

Northland Sports Online

Just weeks after ending the University of Minnesota Duluth volleyball team’s 25-match winning streak, the four-time defending national champion Concordia-St. Paul Golden Bears finished off the Bulldogs’ 2011 postseason run.

The third-seeded Bulldogs (28-4) succumbed to Concordia-St. Paul’s balanced offense, strong serving and overbearing block Friday night in Kearney, Neb., losing 25-21, 25-15, 25-22 to the Golden Bears (30-2) in the semifinals of a strong central region tournament.

“That’s a great team we just played, and they know how to finish,” head coach Jim Boos said. “I’m proud of the way my team played today; they battled hard and did a lot of great things. Unfortunately it was those little things at the ends of games we just couldn’t get to go our way.”

Concordia-St. Paul served up nine aces while not making a single service error, using its strong service game to hold the Bulldogs’ offense in check throughout the match.

UMD stuck with the Golden Bears in each set, remaining at least within one of Concordia-St. Paul through the 15-point barrier each time. The Bulldogs just couldn’t hold off the Golden Bears’ late runs in each set however, costing UMD down the stretch.

“Sometimes you want it so much that it just becomes a little bit too much, and you end up pressing,” Boos said. “At the end of those games we pressed a little bit, and they made plays. We came up a little short.”

The Bulldogs were led offensively by senior outside hitter Hannah Johnson’s 12 kills. Sophomore outside hitter Kate Lange added 11, and senior right side hitter April Hansen posted 10. Concordia-St. Paul outhit UMD .252-.186, using 10 blocks to force 22 hitting errors.

The Golden Bears had just one player reach double-digit kills, but spread the ball around, with five different players collecting at least six kills. Johnson said afterward that a team with so many weapons, just focusing on limiting one player wouldn’t do much.

“When you play Concordia, the game plan is to just slow down the hitters,” Johnson said. “They have a great team, and so you need to get your hands up and get those deflections to slow each one of them down. That’s what they do so well, and that’s what we needed to do, too.”

UMD edged Concordia in digs, 49-48. Redshirt freshman Julie Rainey led the team with 17 digs, and Lange added 15. Senior setter Eleena Iisakka had 38 assists and six digs, while senior middle blocker Stephanie Brown finished with five kills and two blocks.

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