ST. PAUL, Minn. - Facing their second ranked team in the top five in as many weeks, the University of Mary Volleyball team paid a visit to St. Paul tonight to take on #3 Concordia University - St. Paul to continue their Northern Sun conference schedule.
 
The match turned into another tough battle for the Marauders (8-9, 3-5 NSIC) as the Golden Bears (13-3, 7-1 NSIC) took the first two sets before holding on for a win in the third to send U-Mary below .500 on the year.
 
Concordia-St. Paul came into the match riding high as they defeated #1 University of Minnesota Duluth earlier in the week and the momentum was apparent as the Golden Bears jumped out to a commanding 12-2 lead early in the first set. The Marauders did what they could on the offensive end but the defensive presence from Concordia-St. Paul was too much as U-Mary couldn't get within nine points through the rest of the set.
 
The Golden Bears took the first set 25-13, but not before U-Mary showed flashes of their potential with Elizabeth Garcia, Thayna Silva, and Lauren Randall all providing kills on the offensive end throughout the set.
 
The Marauders kept up with Concordia-St. Paul early in the second set as Geovana Almeida fired off a hot serve that the Golden Bears couldn't handle followed by smart defensive play from U-Mary to force two Concordia errors as the score sat at 4-3 in favor of the home team.
 
Concordia-St. Paul rattled off five straight points to extend their lead out to 9-3 but U-Mary stayed close behind as Randall registered two kills and the Golden Bears had an unforced ball handling error to put the score at 9-6 with U-Mary still lagging behind. The Golden Bears kept trying to pull away in the set but the Marauders stayed close behind as Randall registered another kill to go with a service ace, combined with two Concordia errors, to keep the score at 13-10 with U-Mary looking for the right combination to break through.
 
Unfortunately the wheels started to fall off the wagon for the Marauders as Concordia-St. Paul fired off a 7-1 run to open up the lead at 20-11, yet U-Mary had one last punch in them as Silva scored a kill, Almeida provided the hot serve with two more aces, and the defense forced another Golden Bear error to close back in on the set at 21-15.
 
It wouldn't be enough as Concordia-St. Paul kept the pressure up and ended the set on four straight points to put U-Mary in a 2-0 hole heading into the third, and potentially final, set of the match.
 
The offense started to click in the third set with Garcia and Randall teaming up for a block to go with one Randall kill and two Garcia kills that gave U-Mary a 5-3 lead early on. The Golden Bears stayed hot on their heels at that point, but Silva, along with Paige Smith, decided to keep the ball rolling as Silva recorded two kills to go with one from Smith to keep the lead in U-Mary's favor at 8-7.
 
Concordia-St. Paul swung the lead back into their favor at that point with a 4-1 run en route to a 11-9 Golden Bear lead, but U-Mary held fast and fired off a 4-1 run of their own off a Randall kill, a team block from Randall and Garcia, to go with two Concordia errors to retake the lead at 13-12.
 
The teams traded points after that with U-Mary holding the lead at 16-15 before Concordia-St. Paul taking another 4-1 run to a 19-17 lead, yet once again the Marauders stayed in the set and tied the score at 21 apiece late in the match.
 
Rather than allowing the set to continue any further, the Golden Bears finally put a stop to U-Mary's rally and closed the set on a 4-1 run to take the match on the heels of a 25-22 score.
 
Thayna Silva led the offense for U-Mary with nine kills to go with six digs on the evening; Lauren Randall provided the help as she finished with six kills, seven digs, two block assists and one service ace on the night.
 
Elizabeth Garcia continues to improve in the middle as she finished with five kills, three block assists and two digs as she made the most of her opportunities and finished with a .444 hitting percentage.
 
Alex Brown provided the steady hand once again on the back line as she finished with 16 digs, improving her pace in conference.
 
Katelyn Olson spent the night as the driver of the offense as she ended up with 16 assists to go with one solo block, two digs and a kill.
 
The Marauders finished their Minnesota tour tomorrow night when they take on Minnesota State University at 4 pm.
 
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