Box Score BEMIDJI, Minn. (BSU Gymnasium) - The Bemidji
State University volleyball team dropped its third straight
conference game this season as No. 3 Concordia-St. Paul spoiled
the Beavers home opener in three games (23-30, 19-30, 21-30)
Friday night at the BSU Gymnasium.
The Golden Bears proved why they are ranked No. 3 in the nation
as they it at a pace of .485 (48-23-108) as a team enroute
to their 13th consecutive win over BSU while improving the
school’s all-time record versus BSU to 10-14-1.
Bemidji State was led by
Heather Sampson
(Brooklyn Park, Minn.) who posted 10 kills, hitting at a rate
of .421 (10k-2e-19ta) while senior
Brittney Burns
(LeSueur, Minn.) collected nine kills, hitting at a rate of
.156 (9k-4e-32ta). Burns also collected three digs with two
service aces and two block assists.
Defensively,
Brie Groskreutz (So., OH, Reedsburg,
Wis.) led all BSU players with nine digs while
Jennifer
Janckila (Jr., MH, Appleton, Wis.) caused havoc for
the UMD attackers recording four blocks in the match (2bs-2ba)
as the matched the Golden Bears with 15 total blocks.
Chelsea
Geisler (Jr., LB, Grand Rapids, Minn.) recorded seven
digs on the evening.
Alicia Beaman (Sr., S, St. Paul Park, Minn.)
set a career milestone as she became just the sixth player
in Bemidji State history to reach 2,000 set assists in her
career. Beaman recorded 19 set assists in the match which
puts in the sixth slot on BSU’s all-time assist list
with 2,009 in her career.
Allison Kunde (So.,
S, Burnsville, Minn.) notched seven set assists in the match
for the Beavers.
The Golden Bears were led offensively by Kate Bennett who
spiked down 14 kills hitting .545 (14k-2e-22at) in the match.
Whitney Meierotto joined Bennett with double-digit
kills with 10 in the match.
Mary Slinger
led the Golden Bears defensively with 17 digs while
Emily
Palkert and Meierotto had six blocks apiece.
BSU charged out of the gate putting the No. 3 team in the
country in a hole at 3-0 early in game 1. The Beavers would
hold the lead half way through game 1 when the Golden Bears
took their first lead at 13-14 on a service ace by
Krista Erickson. The Beavers and Golden Bears would
trade points throughout the rest of the game as their were
10 tie scores and five lead changes. The Golden Bears separated
themselves scoring four points in a row to push its lead to
22-27 and then coasted to a 23-30 win.
In game two, Concordia-St. Paul held the lead throughout the
match and cruised to a 30-19 win. The Beavers came to within
9-10, but the Golden Bears used runs of three, four, and five
points to take the game rather handily.
The Beavers jumped out to a early 3-1 lead in the third stanza
turning the tables on CSP. Burns and Janckila would both notch
kills behind the serving of Beaman build the lead. The Golden
Bears made a six point run of their own to push the lead to
3-7. The Golden Bears used another run in the third game to
take a 6-14 lead over BSU. The Beavers fought back and came
to within 15-18, but that is as close as it would be as CSP
went on to take the game and the match with a 30-21 game-three
win.
Friday’s contest marks the 1st time BSU run has run
into a nationally-ranked opponent this season and the 26th
time in the last five seasons. The Beavers continue to search
for their first win versus the top-25 in the last five seasons
and under first year head coach Laurie Bitter. The Beavers
are 2-60 versus the best in the land all-time.
Bemidji State (3-5; 0-3 NSIC) will look to pick up its first
conference win this season and stop a current 10-match losing
skid to NSIC opponents dating back to last season. The Beavers
are set to due battle with the MSU Moorhead Dragons (7-3;
2-1 NSIC) at 3:00 p.m. tomorrow afternoon from the BSU Gymnasium.
--beavers--
