ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Winona State volleyball team proved it can play among the best teams in the nation, putting together a fantastic third set before falling 3-1 to No. 3 Concordia-St. Paul Tuesday evening at the Gangelhoff Center.

The Warriors appeared overmatched by the seven-time defending national champions in the first set, as the Golden Bears hit a staggering .500 compared to .000 from WSU. Taylor Goar and Danielle Rampart each had three kills, but the Warriors committed eight errors in the opening set.

WSU was much better in the second set, going point-for-point with the Golden Bears throughout the set and keeping it close, but was never able to take the lead. The Warriors trailed 10-9 and later 19-17 on an ace from Kalyn Biever.  Down 20-18, Lauren Kudronowicz came up with two crucial kills to tie Concordia at 20-20, and the Warriors eventually fought off a pair of match points before falling 25-23.  Kudronowicz compiled five kills in the second set for the Warriors.

The Warriors came out of the break on a mission, scoring the first eight points of the set on the serve of Kudronowicz – who contributed a kill and pair of aces during the run to give the Warriors a big 8-0 lead and turn the tables on the Golden Bears.  The Warriors would lead 11-4 into a timeout – already the Golden Bears' second of the set.  The Warriors, after having not led once in the first two sets, built their lead back up to eight again at 16-8 on a kill by Goar.  The Golden Bears would go on a run of their own and shrink the lead to just three at 18-15, but that's as close as they'd get, as the Warriors took the next four points to lead 22-15 and a Kylea Roeglin kill gave the Warriors a 25-20 victory, their first set win over Concordia since 2011.

The Warriors won the third set while hitting just .162, but cut down on their errors to just five after committing eight in the first two games.  WSU's strong defense held Concordia to just a .135 hitting percentage for the set.

Concordia got back on track in the fourth set, hitting a strong .469 to put the match away with a 25-14 victory.

Goar and Roeglin each recorded 10 kills, while Kudronowicz and Rampart each had nine to pace a balanced Warrior offense.  Roeglin's 10 kills came on just 18 attempts with only one error for a superb .500 hitting percentage.  Roeglin also contributed three block assists to the stat sheet.

McKenna Larsen dished out 37 assists to go with her nine digs to narrowly miss a double-double.

Jamie Cairncross led the Warrior defense with 15 digs, while Rampart had nine digs to pair with her nine kills.  The defense as a team recorded a season-high 14 block assists and totaled seven total blocks to tie the season-high mark.

Winona State (13-4, 8-3 NSIC) heads home to prepare for a pair of matchups in McCown Gym this weekend, beginning Friday when it takes on Sioux Falls at 7 p.m. before facing Southwest Minnesota State Saturday at 4 p.m.