The top-seeded Concordia (St. Paul) advanced to the NCAA Division II volleyball championship match for the ninth time in program history with a 25-18, 25-16, 25-18 sweep of Lewis University on Friday night at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D. The Golden Bears (34-2) will face sixth-seeded Alaska Anchorage (34-2) at 5 p.m. Saturday in the final.
Emma Lange led the team with 14 kills and hit .462 while Anna Schlaak had 13 kills and 11 digs and hit .455. Setter Kasey Williams spread the ball well and had 39 assists with six digs and three blocks.
Concordia beat Alaska-Anchorage in four sets in their lone previous meeting on Sept. 13, 2008, in a Concordia tournament.
U wrestlers rally
The Gophers won four of the final five matches to defeated Michigan State 20-17 in their Big Ten wrestling opener in East Lansing, Mich. Bobby Stevenson edged Shwan Shadaia 8-5 at 184 pounds to get the Gophers within 17-16 and Brett Pfarr, ranked No. 2, won 16-5 over Matt Okaiye at 197 to clinch the match.
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• Three players who signed to play with the Gophers women's hockey team next season were named to the U.S. women's team for the 2017 Under-18 Women's World Cup. They are goalie Alex Gulstene of Vancouver, British Columbia; and forwards Taylor Wente of Plymouth (Maple Grove High School) and Grace Zumwinkle of Excelsior (Breck). Gophers associate head coach Joel Johnson will lead the team for the third straight season. The tournament will be held Jan. 7-15 in Prerov and Zlin, Czech Republic.
• The Gophers women's basketball team (7-3) is No. 18 in the latest NCAA RPI rankings.
