BY SAM GAZZOLA | Statesman Correspondent | The Statesman
The Bulldog volleyball team's four-game home winning streak was snapped Tuesday night.
No. 1 UMD fell to Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference rival No. 3 Concordia University. It was not only the first time the Bulldogs lost at home this season, but it was also the first time the team dropped a set in Romano Gym.
After winning the opening set 27-25, UMD was not able to sustain enough pressure to win two more. Concordia came out hard in the second set and won 25-14. They were able to dominate the Bulldogs offensively, with a hitting percentage of .407 compared to UMD’s .029.
The Golden Bears would go on to win the remaining two sets by scores of 25-20 and 25-23 to take down the top-ranked Bulldogs.
Although UMD had more errors than Concordia, they also had more offensive opportunities, which left head coach Jim Boos feeling optimistic.
“I liked our aggressiveness. We had more kills, more swings. I like the fight,” Boos said.
Senior outside hitter Mariah Scharf was aggressive all night. She led the match with 17 kills on 40 attempts. She finished the night with a .200 hitting percentage--a below average mark for her, but she swung hard at every ball that came her way.
“I like the fact that she was going to give it everything she had and that she was going to go out swinging,” Boos said.
One thing that Boos was not happy with was the amount of errors his team collected.
“You can’t error as much as we did and think you’re going to beat a team like Concordia,” Boos said. “We’ve got to find a way to be more efficient.
With the loss, UMD is now 13-3 overall and 6-2 in the NSIC. The team will be back in action this Friday at No. 5 Southwest Minnesota State. Before falling to the Golden Bears tonight, SMSU was the last team to have beaten UMD at home, during last year's NCAA tournament.