ST. PAUL -- Concordia-St. Paul battled back from a two-game deficit to defeat North Dakota State 23-30, 21-30, 30-23, 30-28, 15-9 and capture the NCAA Division II North Central Region championship Saturday at the Ganglehoff Center.
After watching NDSU (25-9) quickly take a step ahead in games 1 and 2, the Golden Bears made some changes and turned things around in Game 3, en route with a 30-23 win.
"Concordia made a lineup move in Game 3 that worked well," Bison head coach Zaundra Bina said. "We came out tight, giving them confidence."
Concordia-St. Paul (30-3), playing in front of its home crowd, kept things rolling in a back-and-forth Game 4, notching a 30-28 win to even the match 2-2.
"We started playing not to lose, instead of playing to win," Bison senior setter Kari Holmgren said.
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After jumping out to a 10-4 Game 5 lead, NDSU battled back through kills by junior Kim Hebl and errors from the Golden Bears.
Hebl led the Bison with 18 kills and three aces and was the only Bison to make the all-tournament team.
Leading 13-8, the Golden Bears turned to junior Joy Wubben, who slammed the final two of her match-high 20 kills to seal the regional title.
"I was thinking nationals. We all wanted it." Wubben said. "It was just a matter of playing with heart."
NDSU seniors Jenny Gronner-Roisum had 13 kills and Nicole Rieck added 11 kills and four block assists in their final collegiate match. Concordia-St. Paul senior Jill Kalvik added 17 kills.
"The girls had it in their minds that there were no moral victories, they were here to win," Golden Bears head coach Brady Starkey said.
Bina gave credit to a strong Concordia-St. Paul team that finished with four all-tournament selections.
"Concordia is a great representative of our region," she said. "They have it all."
