Saturday, November 22
7:30 p.m. - Gangelhoff Center - St. Paul, Minn.
No. 3 seed #15 Minnesota Duluth (26-9) vs. No. 1 seed #1 Concordia University (34-1)
CU 3, UMD 0: BOX SCORE
RECAP: ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Golden Bears (34-1) have won the Central Region Volleyball Championship will be making their fourth trip to the NCAA Elite Eight!! The berth comes with a 3-0 downing of rival Minnesota Duluth (26-9) on a night when the offense shined (25-23, 25-18, 25-19).
"I knew we had something left, I knew we could come out and win," said head coach Brady Starkey, who marked the night with his 200th career victory.
The Golden Bears and Bulldogs duked it out in the regional championship for the fifth straight year. The win for Concordia gives them a 3-2 edge in the title series and keeps the trek alive toward defending the Division II National Title.
Concordia stayed aggressive on offense all night, smoking 50 kills at Minnesota Duluth with a .364 hitting average. "We played tight and kept on them," said Starkey. The Golden Bears also served aggressively and forced the Bulldogs to play out of system, take away one-on-one situations that the Bulldogs have had so much success with this year.
With more than 1,200 fans in attendance, the Gangelhoff Center was the perfect environment for a match of this magnitude. The Golden Bears, who thrive on emotion and momentum, received the benefit of a season high backing of Concordia faithful. "I love it," said Sadie Kessler simply. "We really drive off of emotion, so knowing we were up kept us going toward the win."
Seniors Maria Steinhagen and Whitney Meierotto played key roles in helping their team keep the season alive and keep working in the post-season. Steinhagen led the team with 13 kills and a .462 hitting average. Meierotto marked her 17th double-double of the season with ten kills in 17 attempts and adding a team high 13 digs. Both seniors had a solo block and two block assists.
"I didn't doubt that we would get here," said Steinhagen of the Elite Eight berth. "It's nice to have that confidence in your team to keep the season going and hopefully put together another run."
Sadie Kessler also had a huge night for the Golden Bears on the rightside. She tallied 12 kills with one error. Maggie McNamara kept the Bulldogs guessing and dished 46 assists on the team's 50 kills.
The Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs put up a valiant effort to push the Golden Bears, especially in the opening set of the match. They had the advantage through the early part of the set, leading 14-13 before Concordia ripped off a 6-1 run. Jamie Lakatos was the only UMD hitter to finish in double figures for the night, finishing with ten kills. Katie Gangelhoff had a double double with 29 assists and 13 digs. The team hit .200 on the evening and had 42 digs.
The Golden Bears will take on New Haven in the quarterfinal round of the Elite Eight. The location of the final matches will be announced in the near future, and Concordia hopes to be the site named to host. For more information on the teams advancing with the Golden Bears, please visit www.ncaa.com.
Making the Central Region All-Tournament team was Maggie McNamara, Whitney Meierotto, Maria Steinhagen and Ellie Duffy.
2008 NCAA Central Region All-Tournament Team
#8 Cayla Schroeder OH Sr. Augustana
#19 Nikki Scott MB Jr. Nebraska-Kearney
#6 Jeri Walkowiak MB So. Nebraska-Kearney
#6 Sarah Quiram Lib Sr. Southwest Minnesota State
#9 Sarah Wyffels MB Jr. Minnesota Duluth
#7 Rachel Jacobson Lib Jr. Minnesota Duluth
#1 Katie Gangelhoff S Sr. Minnesota Duluth
#12 Jamie Lakatos OH So. Minnesota Duluth
#4 Maggie McNamara S Jr. Concordia University
#9 Maria Steinhagen MB Sr. Concordia University
#12 Ellie Duffy OH Fr. Concordia University
#13 Whitney Meierotto OH Sr. Concordia University
Press Conference:
CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY QUOTES
Head Coach Brady Starkey:
Opening Statement: “Wow what an atmosphere. This was one of best crowed we have played in front of. Our team played hard tonight. They were aggressive and stuck to game plan.”
On winning a close first set: “ It was important. They are a younger team and if you give them hope things could swing in favor. It was import to get out to quick start."
On trailing in last night’s match and if it gave him confidence if they had lost the first set: “I think it did. We didn’t play fantastic in the beginning last night, but it was good to know that if things started going bad we had another gear to kick in. We knew we could fight back and win.”
On not making many mistakes on offense: “I feel that our ball control on serve receive was good. Good ball control and staying aggressive. You can tell by our 13 missed serves that we were playing aggressive. We will never get mad at a player for being too aggressive."
On what worked well for them tonight: “When we did get our serves in, I feel we took them out of system. They are not as good when they are out of system, so it helps a lot in defending them. It comes down to who serve receives and passes better that wins the match.”
Senior middle hitter Maria Steinhagen:
On the rivalry with Minnesota Duluth: “This is such a strong rivalry. With me being a senior this is the fourth time we have met in the regional finals. We know them all by name and have relationship with them. You always know it’s going to be a great match and that helps us play our best."
On their postseason run: “I didn’t doubt we would get here. But in preparing for a match it nice to know that you don’t have to do something amazing to win the game, instead you have your team around you to help. Hopefully we can put together another run this year.”
Junior right side hitter Sadie Kessler:
Big lead in game two beginning: “Emotion and driving off our emotion keeps us going.
Playing with emotion: "I love it. Big croud. Nothing better than hyour teammate getting a big or a dig. It's an awesome feeling when you team does well."
UNIVERSITY of MINNESOTA DULUTH QUOTES
Head Coach Jim Boos:
Opening Statement: “We would like to congratulate Concordia-St. Paul on winning the Central Region Championship. It takes a lot to win this and you have to bring it three straight nights and they did. I couldn’t be prouder of this team. They exceeded all expectation. Looking back a couple of weeks ago we weren’t playing well and we were on the verge of not even making the tournament. But for this team to turn it around late and not only make the region but get the three seed says a lot about them. I couldn’t be prouder of them. As for tonight’s match, I knew that we had to play our best. Concordia game us some chances in the first match, but we made too many mistakes to pull it out.”
On losing momentum after close first set: “I think we were pressing so hard we hurt ourselves. We wanted to make the play so bad that we are missing some of the simple things we did all year long. They saw the door open and they slammed right through it. I feel some of our inexperience showed and their experience signed.”
On the Rivalry Between the Two Schools: “It’s a fun rivalry. We have had a chance the last five years that no other teams have had. We have been spoiled maybe. Its not suppose to be the Bulldogs and Golden Bears every year in this match, but the last five years it has been. Out team did something this year that was maybe a little unexpected in making it back to this game.”
Senior middle hitter Lindsey Clairmont:
On Playing A Tough Match Last Night and Carrying it Over To Tonight: “I was so proud of our team last night. It’s hard to play well two nights in a row. We didn’t play as well tonight on our side of the net. We didn’t play as well as we could.”
Junior middle hitter Sarah Wyffels:
On a close first set and how it affect the team in the start of the second set: “It was tough to come so close and let it slip away. We came out in the second set and they pressured us real hard and we played tight.”
Senior setter Katie Gangelhoff:
On her thoughts of the season: “In years past we were expected to play well. This year we weren’t expected to do as much. We seniors asked the underclassmen to push us in practice and they did.”
