ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Winona State volleyball team put up a spirited effort against the second-ranked Golden Bears, but fell 3-1 in a back-and-forth affair Saturday afternoon in the Concordia-St. Paul Tournament finale at the Gangelhoff Center.

The tournament concluded with Winona State, Concordia-St. Paul and Palm Beach Atlantic – who the Warriors beat Friday – each posting a 2-1 record.

WSU was led offensively by Taylor Goar, who hit a strong .308 with 16 kills and 14 digs for her second straight double-double. Goar also was a threat from the service line, as she compiled six aces – a feat that hadn't been accomplished by a Warrior since Mollie Bjelland had six against MSU Moorhead in 2007.

The Warriors dropped a back-and-fourth opening set, and the Warriors had as much as a four-point lead at 13-9, but the Golden Bears took seven of the next eight points to move ahead 16-14. The Warriors fought back with three straight kills from Goar, Maria Fruechte and Maria Wrage and the two teams traded leads until a Lauren Kudronowicz ace tied it up at 23-23, but CSP took the final two points to win the first set 25-23.

Winona State found itself in an early 4-0 hole in game two, but a big 7-1 WSU spurt put the Warriors in front 10-9. The two squads were tied at 13-13 when a 5-0 Concordia run created some separation, but the Warriors countered with a 4-0 run of their own to cut it to 18-17. Back-to-back kills from Fruechte again tied it up at 19-19 and the Warriors had a brief lead at 21-20, but again the Golden Bears were able to get the crucial points late and went on a 5-0 run to close out the set with a 25-21 win.

Runs were the story in game three as well, as the Warriors came out hot and won eight straight points to take an 8-1 lead, but Concordia quickly countered with a 9-1 run to tie it at 9-9. There would be eight more ties throughout the set, but the Warriors wouldn't let the Golden Bears pull ahead late this time and Goar closed it out with a kill for the 25-23 win.

After a 5-1 WSU lead to start game four, another 6-0 run put CSP out in front 7-5. Six ties later, a quick 4-0 spurt from Concordia gave the Golden Bears a 17-14 lead. The Warriors would trade points with Concordia for the next 11 points and a Wrage kill cut the deficit to one at 22-21,but the Golden Bears closed out the match with the final three points for the 25-21 win.

The Warriors had a tough time containing Concordia's Anna Schlaak, who compiled 34 kills in the match.

Fruechte added 11 kills, while Danielle Rampart made it two straight double-doubles with a 10-kill, 10-dig effort.

Winona State (2-1) heads to Kansas City, Missouri next weekend for four matchups at the Rockhurst Tournament beginning Friday when it takes on Pittsburg State at noon.