Concordia University, St. Paul did something only one other team has done to the University of Minnesota Duluth since 2008, they upended the Bulldogs after trailing by two sets. The Golden Bears needed all five sets to prevail over UMD in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference semifinal match Saturday at the Gangelhoff Center. CU heads to the NSIC Championship match to face Southwest Minnesota State University tomorrow.

UMD, since the change to the 25-point rally scoring system, was 217-1 when it was up two sets and 19-0 heading into today. The only other time it happened was back on Nov. 16, 2016 when Wayne State College upset the Bulldogs at Romano Gymnasium. That match was also in the NSIC Tournament. 

The Bulldogs showed up and excelled in the first two sets, grabbing 29 kills compared to CU's 22. Junior outside hitter Mazkenzie Morgen had 10 kills of those 29 kills on 24 attempts. UMD went on a 7-1 run to take a commanding 21-14 set lead to open the match. Each team gathered three points before junior right side hitter Sarah Kelly clinched the set on a kill through a double block. The Bulldogs hit better in the second at .265 but only won set 25-21. The double block provided by senior middle blocker Allison Olley and sophomore Emily Torve split the 10-10 tie and UMD never looked back. Morgen tallied the last three kills for the Bulldogs.

Every ball on the court UMD got to and was in position to keep points alive despite the deflections and odd bounces it saw. That slowly changed in the third. The Bears played better and got more efficient and forced the Bulldogs to play more out of system. CU took a commanding 21-14 lead and won the third 25-17.

The fourth set saw the lead change hands nine times. UMD had set and match point after rallying back from 21-19. Sophomore middle blocker Abby Thor knocked down a kill to push it to one. Olley and Kelly blocked a CU attack to tie it then Morgen blasted a kill to take the advantage. Kelly gave the Bulldogs match point but the Bears capitalized on the last three points to force the fifth. The Bears outhit the Bulldogs in the last set .455 to .300 and slowly built a lead that UMD could never come back from. It was the Bulldogs' third straight five-set match, which is the most consecutive matches to go the distance in the UMD's 46-year history.

Morgen, who was honored with the NSIC Elite 18 Award during the pregame introductions, led all players with 21 kills. Freshman outside hitter Kate Berg slashed 16 kills. Torve, Kelly and Morgen each scooped up 12 digs while sophomore libero led the Bulldogs with 13. Olley was tied for the match-high six blocks with CU's Sydney Books. Brooklyn Lewis notched 16 for the Bears and Tori Hanson racked up 23 digs to pace all players.

The Bulldogs get to find out their fate in the NCAA II selection show on Monday, Nov. 20 at 6:30 p.m. UMD was ranked fifth in the central region poll that was released on Wednesday. After reaching the NSIC semifinals, the Bulldogs will hope to receive one of five at-large bids in the region. The other three spots go to the conference champions of the Great American Conference (GAC), Mid-American Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) and the NSIC.