Bulldogs report: UMD knocks out Concordia in NSIC semis

The postseason path for UMD volleyball got significantly brighter on Friday, in part due to the Bulldogs’ 3-1 (25-17, 19-25, 25-10, 25-16) NSIC tournament semifinal victory over Concordia-St. Paul on Friday night in Wayne, Nebraska. Before the No. 23-ranked Bulldogs played No. 10 CSP, No. 14 St. Cloud State ousted hosts and national No. 2 Wayne State in five sets, setting up a dogfight in Nebraska on Saturday for the conference championship and automatic NCAA bid. The second semi between No. 2-seeded CSP and No. 6 seed UMD had some wild swings, UMD hitting .286 and -minus .026 in the first two sets. However, it was UMD that stabilized, dominating the third set by hitting .308 and allowing the powerhouse Golden Bears just three kills. UMD’s offense was even better, .333, in the fourth and more than enough to cancel out CSP’s improvement. Paige Decker had her second standout performance in as many rounds, finishing with 15 kills and getting a hand in seven blocks.

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