St. Cloud State
27-5,19-1NSIC
Concordia-St. Paul
23-8,16-4NSIC
Volleyball season ends at NCAA Regional
12/2/2021 5:26:00 PM | Volleyball
#7 Huskies fall to #15 Concordia-St. Paul 3-1
WARRENSBURG, MO. – The St. Cloud State University volleyball team made history plenty of times in 2021. The #7 ranked Huskies came up short Thursday in their bid to make just a little more. Despite winning the first set, St. Cloud State fell in its opening match of the NCAA Regional to #15 Concordia-St. Paul by a final score of 3-1 (31-29, 16-25, 14-25, 17-25).
GOLDEN KRYPTONITE
It was a back-and-forth affair early in the first set, as neither Concordia-St. Paul nor St. Cloud State could maintain a substantial lead. Anytime one team gained a two-point advantage, the other would come storming back to tie the set, resulting in a 17-17 tie late in the set. The score remained tied at 20-20, before the Golden Bears took a 21-20 lead on a kill off the block by Sophie Anderson. Concordia-St. Paul would maintain that one point lead when it mattered, going up 24-23 and needing just one point to win the opener. The tides quickly turned however. The Huskies fought off set point four times in the opener before Linsey Rachel (Maple Lake, Minn. / Maple Lake) and Phebie Rossi (Rapid City, S.D. / Stevens) blocked St. Cloud State's way to a 31-29 first set win.
It was all the Golden Bears to open the second set, as they jumped out to a 4-0 lead after a missed serve from Rachel. While the Huskies tried to battle back, they never could make up the four-point deficit, though they got close, nearly tying the set at 10-10 before a challenge reversed the point. The reversed point swung the momentum back in Concordia-St. Paul's direction, allowing the No. 7 seed to take the set 25-16
The first two sets lacked the hard-hitting prowess both teams are accustomed to, but that was not the case in the third. Both teams came out guns blazing, trying to use sheer force to take a 2-1 advantage in the match. It was again the Golden Bears that took the early lead, jumping ahead 4-1 thanks to some luck. Again, St. Cloud State could not be deterred, as the team tied the set at 4-4 before taking a 5-4 lead of its own. In the end, mental and unforced errors proved costly for the Huskies, as Concordia-St. Paul took the third set 25-14.
Down 2-1, the Huskies entered a must-win situation in set four. It was quite literally win or go home, and win St. Cloud State did not. Again, the Golden Bears jumped out to a sizable lead, and again, the Huskies couldn't recover, as they fell in set four 25-17 and the match 3-1.
TOP HUSKIES
- Kenzie Foley (Sergeant Bluff, Iowa / Sergeant Bluff-Luton) tallied double-digit kills in the loss, closing with a team-leading 20 kills in the match. She additionally added 11 digs for a double-double, her 18th double-double of the season.
- Linsey Rachel (Maple Lake, Minn. / Maple Lake) was the team's top defensive player, as she tallied a team-leading 13 digs in the match. She additionally recorded nine kills and four block assists.
- Maddy Torve (Loretto, Minn. / Heritage Christian Academy) closed her Husky career with a 33 assist performance .
THIRTY FOR THIRTY
St. Cloud State played two sets to 30 points this year, and both were against Concordia-St. Paul. The Huskies outlasted the Golden Bears in a 35-33 second set win back in the regular season before taking them down 31-29 in set #1.
UP NEXT
The Huskies close the season with a 27-5 record, including a near-immaculate 19-1 mark in NSIC play. St. Cloud State also broke multiple program records and went on a 17-match win streak from October 1 to December 2. Foley and Rachel became the first hitters since the early 1990s to record 400+ kills in a single season, while Torve graduates as one of the best setters in program history, eclipsing 4000 assists during the 2021 season.
For all the latest on St. Cloud State Volleyball, stay tuned to SCSUHuskies.com and follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
