Box Score

ABERDEEN, S.D. – The Northern State University Wolves stole a set win from the sixth-ranked Concordia University-St. Paul Golden Bears for the first time since the 2007 season Friday night, but fell 3-1 on the night in front of 588 fans in NSU's 2010 home opener.

With the 15-25, 26-24, 15-25, 18-25 loss, the Wolves slipped to 7-3 overall and 0-2 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play.  Both conference losses have come to teams ranked in the top six in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association Top 25 poll.  The Golden Bears, three-time defending national champions, improved to 6-3 on the year and 1-0 in the league.

After a first set in which the Golden Bears pulled steadily away from a 6-6 tie, the Wolves withstood a late CU charge in the second set to hold on in extra points to force a 1-1 tie heading into the break.  NSU took a 20-16 lead late, but watched CU claim eight of the next ten points to force the first set point at 24-21.

The Wolves, however, fought back to forge a 24-24 tie on two Amber Bloom kills and a CU hitting error.  Freshman Paula Martins then rocketed a kill down the line while CU's Kayla Koenecke sailed an attack long and out of bounds to give the Wolves the tight 26-24 win.

The Golden Bears, however, came out of the break and notched a combined .384 hitting percentage in the final two sets of the night, while taking advantage of seven NSU attack errors in each of those sets to claim the 3-1 victory.

Bloom led the NSU offensive attack with 14 kills to go along with 13 assists.  Senior Kayla Ysteoe added 10 kills and eight digs.  Juniors Kaili Aiono and Konefesi Vaisigano notched 15 and 13 digs apiece to lead the Wolves' defensive effort, while senior Megan Gilbraith added 30 assists.

CU senior Emily Palkert, a member of all three national championship runs, turned in an 18-kill, 9-block performance, while hitting .516 on the night.  Freshman setter Amanda Konetchy notched 51 assists and eight digs in the effort.

The Wolves have little time to dwell on the loss as they return to Wachs Arena tomorrow night to face St. Cloud State University in a 7 p.m. match-up.  The Huskies downed the University of Mary in straight sets on Friday.