Top-ranked Minnesota Duluth plays second-ranked Concordia-St. Paul in a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference match at 7 p.m. today at the Gangelhoff Center in St. Paul.
The Bulldogs (12-0 overall, 3-0 NSIC) come in unbeaten and have revenge in mind after Concordia knocked them out of last year's NCAA Central Regional en route to a sixth straight NCAA Division II national title. The teams split the 2012 NSIC conference title with Southwest Minnesota State. UMD is led by senior outside hitter Kate Lange of Hibbing, who leads the nation with 5.53 kills per set. She ranks second among active DII players with 1,648 career kills, just four behind the leader and with 700 fewer attempts.
Concordia (11-1, 3-0) returned just two starters from last year but they were a pair of first-team All Americans in setter Amanda Konetchy and right-side hitter Kayla Koenecke. Konetchy's 4,739 career assists are tops among active DII players, and Koenecke's 1,335 kills rank sixth.
The Golden Bears saw their 23-match home winning streak snapped by NSIC rival Wayne State during its season-opening tournament on Sept. 7, but they haven't lost since. Concordia has a 177-6 record against NSIC competition during coach Brady Starkey's 11 years leading the program. Three of those losses have come against the Bulldogs, who hold a 21-17 lead in the series.
