Concordia (St. Paul) hopes of NSIC volleyball title share dashed in five-set loss to Wayne State

Wayne State, No. 2 in the latest NCAA Division II volleyball rankings, defeated No. 3 Concordia (St. Paul) in five sets, 25-19, 16-25, 21-25, 25-18, 15-9, on Saturday afternoon at the Gangelhoff Center in St. Paul to clinch an outright NSIC regular-season title.

The Golden Bears (24-4, 17-3 NSIC) would have finished in a tie with the Wildcats for first place with a win. They came into the match 13-0 at home this season.

Taya Beller had 21 kills for Wayne State (29-1, 19-1), a Nebraska school.

The Wildcats had beaten the Golden Bears 3-0 twice in early September, once on a neutral court in a Colorado tournament, once in Wayne, Neb., in the conference opener.

Concordia has won 14 conference titles in 20 years under coach Brady Starkey, but none since 2017.

Katie Mattson had 18 kills for the Golden Bears, Emma Schmidt 16 kills and 16 digs and Jasmine Mulvihill 15 and Teagan Starkey had 71 assists. They hit .331 as a team, the Wildcats .329.

David Morrell Jr. carved up unbeaten challenger Aidos Yerbossynuly early, held on in the middle rounds and then knocked him out late in the 12th round with a vicious right hook to retain the WBA super middleweight title at the Minneapolis Armory.

It looked as if Morrell might finish it early as he bloodied Yerbossynuly, but the Kazakh just kept coming, taking three punches for every one he landed.

Yerbossynuly had expressed a lack of concern at the end of his training for Morrell.

"We respect the Cubans and their skills," he said through an interpreter. "But in the pros, they aren't as good as fighters as in the amateurs. … There is nothing about Morrell that concerns me."

He was permitted to amend that view late on Saturday night.

Caleb Truax, the veteran middleweight, was introduced during this card and indicated he will return to the ring on the next Armory card, planned for Dec. 17.

The Augustana men's cross-country team won their 12th NSIC title in 13 years in Wayne, Neb., while the Vikings women's team repeated as champions and won their eight overall title.

Matt Steiger of Augustana was the individual winner (24:50.7, 8K) and four of his teammates finished in the top six for a score of 18; Minnesota State Mankato was second (94).

In the women's race, Lindsay Cunningham of Winona State took first (20:22.80, 6K). The Vikings had a winning team score of 56; the Mavericks were second (68).

Robi Buzakovic's second goal of the match, in the 89th minute, gave visiting St. Olaf a 2-1 victory over Gustavus in the championship match of the MIAC men's soccer tournament.

Buzakovic's first goal for the Oles (13-5-1) came in the 48th minute. Jack Knight scored for the Gusties (14-1-4). Peter Forseth had nine saves for St. Olaf, Wesley Sanders 10 for Gustavus.

Brittany Howard's second goal of the game 54 seconds into overtime gave the host Toronto Six a 3-2 victory over the Minnesota Whitecaps in a Premier Hockey Federation opener.

Sidney Morin and Natalie Snodgrass scored for the Whitecaps in the first 8:30 of the second period to give them a 2-1 lead. Amanda Leveille had 29 saves for the Whitecaps, Elaine Chuli 25 for the home team.