Paige Decker and Kylie Broten combined for 40 kills and four blocks despite the University of Minnesota Duluth (18-9, 11-9 NSIC) Volleyball Team falling to No. 6 Concordia-St. Paul (24-4, 19-1 NSIC) in a five-set thriller, 25-20, 22-25, 18-25, 25-23, 12-15, Saturday afternoon in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action at Romano Gymnasium.
 
Decker led all players with a career-high 21 kills on .500 hitting, while Broten closed out her career at Romano Gym with 19 kills on .444 hitting and matched her career-high with three solo blocks. Xada Johnson contributed 10 kills and Brietta Tims added six kills, 13 digs and two service aces.
 
Ava Jones had 50 assists, eight digs and two service aces to help the Bulldogs notch a .244 team hitting percentage, their highest mark since Oct. 21 at Bemidji State.
 
After falling down 7-10 in the opening set, UMD put together a 4-2 run to even the score 11-11, before a kill from Tims, an error from the Golden Bears and a service ace from Madison Reed put the home team ahead by two, 14-12. It extended its lead to six points, 19-13, with a 5-0 run capped by a solo block from Broten. The Golden Bears pulled within three, but a kill from Decker and an error by the visitors made it set point for UMD. Guetzkow put it away with her first kill of the night.
 
The Bulldogs forced Concordia-St. Paul to take a timeout after Decker's kill gave them a 9-6 lead to start the second set. But, a 12-5 run from the Golden Bears put UMD in a five-point hole, 13-18. A kill from Broten, a block from Johnson and back-to-back service aces from Madeline Guetzkow pulled the Bulldogs back within one point, 17-18. The two teams traded points before a CSP service ace and kill from Makenna Nold, who finished the match with 18 kills, made it 21-24. A kill from Decker brought the Bulldogs back within two, but a block from the visitors evened the match at one set apiece. Decker hit .667 with six kills in the second set.
 
UMD fell down early in the third set, trailing by as many as seven, 6-13, but it used a 6-0 run to pull within one, 12-13. The Golden Bears answered back with a 9-4 run to stretch their lead back to seven, 15-22. Two kills from Broten made it 18-23, but the Golden Bears were able to close it out and take a 2-1 lead in the match.
 
The Bulldogs trailed by two points early in the fourth set, before taking a three-point lead, 13-10, thanks to an 8-3 run that included four kills from Decker. The Golden Bears answered with a 10-4 run to go ahead 17-20. UMD strung together a 4-1 run to tie it up, 21-21, before an attack error by the Golden Bears gave the home team the 22-21 advantage. Back-to-back kills from Johnson made it a three-point lead for the home team and gave them set point, 24-21. Two-straight points from CSP made it 24-23, but Broten closed it out with a kill to send it to five.
 
UMD trailed 3-8 early in the fifth set following a 4-0 Golden Bears run, but Broten continued to will her team back into the match as she tallied three kills and an assist to pull the Bulldogs within two points, 7-9. Another kill from Broten, a kill from Tims and an error by the visitors made it 10-11 and forced CSP to take a timeout. Three-straight points from the Golden Bears out of the timeout made it 10-14. UMD made it a two-point match following a kill from Decker, but a visitor kill ended its rally and the match.  
 
The No. 8-seed Bulldogs will take on No. 1-seed Concordia-St. Paul in the 2025 NSIC Volleyball Tournament Quarterfinals Tuesday, Nov. 18 at the Gangelhoff Center in St. Paul, Minn. The match is set to get underway at 6 p.m.