Watch Friday night's NCAA semifinal match between Concordia and Lewis here at 7:30 p.m.
Concordia (St. Paul) sweeps into Division II volleyball semifinals
The Golden Bears beat American International.
By News Services
December 9, 2016 at 10:01PM
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - The top-seeded Concordia (St. Paul) volleyball team advanced to the Division II national semifinals with a 25-6, 25-16, 25-13 sweep over eighth-seeded American International on Thursday night at Sanford Pentagon. The Golden Bears (33-2) will face fifth-seeded Lewis (29-7) at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
Concordia's defense stifled the Yellow Jackets who had a hitting percentage of -.064 for the match. Concordia collected 10 blocks while allowing just 18 kills as well as forcing 25 attack errors. The Golden Bears also had a 60-48 edge in digs.
Offensively, Concordia hit .276. Anna Schlaak led the Golden Bears with 11 kills. Emma Lange added nine kills while Riley Hanson and Mariya Sampson had six apiece. Setter Kasey Williams had 30 assists and 14 digs.
Emily McDonough was a stalwart in the back row with a match-high 17 digs while and Shelby Seurer was a dominant force at the net with eight blocks.
Diva Rivas led the Yellow Jackets (28-7) with seven kills while Mercy Rivera added 16 digs.
With this victory, Concordia improves to 59-6 all-time in NCAA tournament matches and advances to the national semifinals for the ninth time in program history. The Golden Bears have gone 8-0 in their previous trips to the semifinals and have won 22 straight matches as a part of the Elite Eight field.
The Golden Bears also have won 16 matches in a row dating to mid-October.
Concordia will meet the Flyers for the fourth time but for the first in postseason play. On Sept. 9 this season, the Golden Bears swept Lewis of Romeoville, Ill., 25-19, 25-11, 27-25 in the Colorado Premier Challenge.
The Flyers, who have won four matches in a row and 13 of their past 14, defeated Wheeling Jesuit in the quarterfinals 25-17, 26-254, 30-28 in a much tougher match than Concordia had.
In the other quarterfinals, Alaska Anchorage beat Angelo State 3-1 and Palm Beach Atlantic ousted S.C. Aiken 3-0.
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Sam Rinzel had two of the Gophers’ three power play goals against the Irish.
