Box Score Kearney, Neb. – In a pseudo national championship match, the top-ranked Concordia-St. Paul Golden Bears won the final three sets to beat co-second-ranked Nebraska-Kearney (18-25, -23, -19, -20) in the Central Regional final of the NCAA Tournament Saturday night in Minnesota.
 
The Golden Bears (30-4) have now won 33 straight NCAA tourney matches and are aiming for a sixth-straight national championship. CU faces unranked Wingate, S.C. (32-2) in the Elite Eight Thursday afternoon in Pensacola, Fla.

To watch the UNK press conference, click HERE. To hear comments from CU, go HERE
 
UNK (35-3), falling to Concordia in the NCAA's for the third time in the last five years, had won 17 in a row and never trailed in winning tonight's first set.
 
The Lopers were then just two points from a 2-0 match lead as kills by senior setter Jenna Rouzee (GI Northwest) and senior outside Ariel Krolikowski (Grand Island), along with an ace by junior outside Ashley Leitner (Lincoln SW), tied the second set at 23 all.
 
However, Concordia used kills by senior middle Michelle Graham and senior outside Ellie Duffy to take the set and tie things at one a piece.
 
In a match that featured 20 ties and nine lead changes, Kearney roared out to a 5-1 lead in the third set, forcing the Golden Bears to call a timeout.  Concordia countered with a 5-1 run but UNK hit back, grabbing a 14-12 lead on a kill by Rouzee.
 
There were long rallies after long rallies all night long and also several key runs. Concordia's first big spurt was up next as they closed the third set on a 13-5 explosion that featured seven kills and two blocks.
 
Like they did in each of the first three sets, UNK grabbed an early lead in the fourth, jetting out to a 5-0 cushion and forcing Concordia to use its first timeout. The break served the Golden Bears well as they came out and tied things at 11 thanks to a kill by Duffy.
 
Another Duffy kill gave CU the lead for good, 13-12, and the Golden Bears eventually opened up a 22-18 cushion. Duffy finally ended things with her 20th and final kill of the night.
 
Concordia had just one more kill than the Lopers, 62-61, but hit 49 points higher, .295 to .246, as they had four fewer errors. The Golden Bears also had five more digs, two more blocks and were plus two in the serve game.
 
Individually, Duffy was one of four CU players in double digits in kills. In the middle, senior Cassie Haag had 14 and hit .538 in the process while also providing a team-best six blocks. Next, junior right side Kayla Koenecke had 11 kills and a team-high 15 digs with sophomore outside Ashley Murtha at 13 kills, 12 digs and five blocks.
 
Finally for CU, junior setter Amanda Konetchy had 54 assists and 11 digs.
 
UNK was paced by Krolikowski's match-high 21 kills. To reach that total, she took 56 swings and hit a solid .268. Also on the outside, Leitner had 14 kills and recorded a super .406 hitting efficiency.
 
In the middle, junior Ellie Pesavento (Omaha Marian) had 11 kills, two blocks and hit .321. Finally, Rouzee ended her collegiate career with 49 assists, 14 digs, five kills and two blocks.
 
NCAA Central Region All-Tournament Team
Kate Lange, Minnesota-Duluth
Emilee Gutzmer, SW Minnesota State
Ellie Pesavento, Nebraska-Kearney
Katie Sokolowski, Nebraska-Kearney
Jenna Rouzee, Nebraska-Kearney
Ariel Krolikowski, Nebraska-Kearney
Cassie Haag, Concordia-St. Paul
Kayla Koenecke, Concordia-St. Paul
Ellie Duffy, Concordia-St. Paul
Amanda Konetchy, Concordia-St. Paul
Taylor Dordan, Concordia-St. Paul
Ashley Murtha, Concordia-St. Paul