The eighth-ranked University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldog could not break out of its slump as it fell in straight sets to No. 4 Concordia University, St. Paul on the road in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action in St. Paul on Saturday afternoon.

UMD (16-7 overall; 9-5 NSIC) came out of the starting gate slowly for the second straight match, though looked shaky defensively in the opening set as No. 4 Concordia (18-4, 12-2 NSIC)  hit .484 and sided-out at a 68-percent clip. The aggressive-serving Golden Bears would get three service aces but also four errors in the opening frame. The Bulldogs seemed to find a better ofeensive gameplan in the late going, turning a 21-13 deficit to 22-16, but a pair of late attacking errors hurt UMD to give CU a 25-16 game one win.

Senior outside hitter Mariah Scharf scored the first four points of game two for the Bulldogs as they opened a 2-0 lead that Concordia eventually turned into a seven-point deficit at 14-7, forcing a timeout on the floor by UMD head coach Jim Boos. Using a more defensive-minded rotation somewhat limited UMD's offense in the early going of game two but the two teams would rally back and forth in the middle of the set with Concordia eventually taking three points in a row to make the score 20-12, their largest advantage of the game and force another timeout for the Bulldogs. The teams traded points nearly the rest of the way, with CU taking the final two points with an exclamation point block by senior middle blocker Heather Schiller to give the Golden Bears a 25-15 victory.

Concordia continued to play pristine offense in the second game, hitting .517 through the first two sets with just a pair of errors. UMD struggled offensively in game two with eight errors and a .152 hitting percentage. After the intermission, the Bulldogs sent out an offensive-minded rotation but again took the hit offensively as Concordia improved upon its hitting percentage, scoring seven-straight points and 9-of-10 to open up a 13-3 lead. UMD came out of a timeout and broke the string on a kill by Scharf, who finished with 12 on the day to lead the Bulldogs. Senior middle blocker Monica Turner finally broke through with three blocks in game three, making her UMD's career leader in total blocks, a 24-year-old record held by Joleyn Young ('91) falling by the wayside as she now reached 366 for the Bulldogs. Unfortunately, it was not enough as the Golden Bears took game three 25-14.

OUTSIDE HITS
Turner's three blocks were paired with five kills for UMD ... senior setter Ashley Hinsch collected 32 assists for UMD while CU's senior setter Kasey Williams collected 37 ... junior outside hitter Taylor Wissbroecker led UMD with nine digs, adding eight kills on the day ... senior libero Taylor Dordan had a match-high 18 digs for Concordia.

UP NEXT
UMD returns to the friendly confines of Romano Gymnasium next weekend to play host to No. 25 Winona State University and Upper Iowa University in NSIC play. The Bulldogs and Warriors will start the weekend next Friday night.