Volleyball Top Stories

 

Wolves Take Game From #6 CSP
In Front Of Record Crowd

October 27, 2006	1	2	3	4
#6 Concordia-St. Paul	30	18	30	30
Northern State	25	30	16	26

ABERDEEN, SD - The Northern State Wolves volleyball team (15-12, 9-8 NSIC) pulled off something that they haven't done in more than three years, they won a game against perennial NSIC powerhouse Concordia-St. Paul (30-2, 17-0 NSIC), currently ranked sixth in the nation. 1,637 fans came to watch NSU, setting a new school record for volleyball attendance.

The Wolves played tight with the Golden Bears for the first two games, trading kills and blocks. Both teams showed off their defensive skills, keeping hitting percentages low and the excitement level in Wachs Arena high. After dropping a close game 1, the Wolves came charging out of the gates for game 2, with Emily Knaeble serving for three quick points. CSP attacking errors and a strong NSU defensive presence put the Wolves up 13-5 early on. Kelsey Aden provided her team with four blocks and five kills in game 2 alone, leading her team to a decisive 30-18 win. The Wolves held the Bears to a -.018 hitting percentage.

The rest of the match featured highlights from both teams, however Concordia's strengths grew as the match wore on, and the Bears went on to dominate much of the remainder of the match. All-American Jessica Lucia punched out 23 kills in the match, leading her team with a .333 hitting average. NSU's block did all they could to contain the Bears, totaling 11.0 team blocks on the night.

"Concordia-St. Paul is a very good team that will take you out of your game," said NSU head coach Lisa Schriver. "There were points were we played well and we played with a lot of effort, but we were very inconsistent. Concordia played with a stronger mentality."

Kelsey Aden came on late in the match to supply the Wolves with both offense and defense. She led the team on the night with 15 kills and seven block assists. Emily Knaeble had 14 kills, while Odemaris Diaz had eight kills and five blocks. Melanie Perez was the team's top defender with 25 digs on the night. Kellie Heier posted 40 assists and 15 digs.

Concordia-St. Paul was kept to a season low .174 hitting average. With 23 kills and 19 digs, Lucia was the top performer for the Golden Bears. Kelsey Kyro and Ashley Olson had 13 kills each, while Megan Graham led the Concordia defense with 28 digs. Setter Maggie McNamara had 57 assists and 16 digs.

Friday night's game 2 win was the first time that the Wolves took a game from Concordia-St. Paul since October 10, 2003. The 1,635 fans in the stands is a new attendance high for the NSU volleyball program.

The Wolves will wrap up the regular season tomorrow night at Wachs Arena, playing host to Upper Iowa (5-23, 1-15 NSIC) in a 3:00 pm match.