ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Winona State University volleyball team earned a berth in the 2023 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) Volleyball Tournament, traveling to Concordia University, St. Paul for a Tuesday, Nov. 14 matchup with the Golden Bears.
Winona State - the seventh seed in the tournament - ran into a buzz saw with second-seeded Concordia, St. Paul, as CSP dispatched WSU 3-0 (14-25, 20-25, 15-25) and advanced past the Warriors to the NSIC semifinal round.
Key Details: Concordia, St. Paul 3, Winona State 0
Attendance: 484
How It Happened
In the first set, Concordia St. Paul started strong, with the home side racing out to a 8-2 lead en route to a 25-14 win.
Lydia Lange picked up the first kill of the set and
Gianna Vollrath had the final kill for WSU but Winona State struggled in between to find an rhythm offensively. Overall. CSP hit .400 in the first frame, while holding WSU to a .103 clip as a team.
The second stanza saw Winona State battled back to close the scoring margin, but eventually falling 25-20. WSU led in set two 14-11 following a
Jaci Winchell kill on an assist by
Rayliene Joens, but CSP recovered to take the frame.
In the third set, CSP outpaced WSU to claim the match in sweep fashion, registering a 25-15 win.
Sidney Paulson had two kills and
Gianna Vollrath one as WSU closed the set score to 10-8 and just a two-point WSU deficit midway through the period, but the Golden Bears would use two three-point runs to pull away for the set win and victory in the match.
Winona State Stat Standouts
Lydia Lange, 8 kills, .5 block
Sidney Paulson, 7 kills, 10 digs
Gianna Vollrath, 6 kills, 1.5 blocks
Ashlyn Steding, 14 assists
Jaci Winchell, 14 assists
Beyond the Box Score
Winona State has qualified for the NSIC postseason tournament in seven of
Joe Getzin's nine seasons.
Concordia, St. Paul - ranked No. 2 in the nation - is also the second seed in the NSIC Tournament, speaking to the strength of the league as a whole.
Winona State now has a 2-3 record against CSP in the last five meetings.
Winona State (18-10, 10-8 NSIC) concludes the 2023 campaign reaching the NSIC Tournament for the second time in three years. WSU wraps up the year with 18 wins overall and having earned two successive weekly rankings in the 2023 NCAA Division II Central Region rankings.
