Sioux Falls – Concordia (St. Paul) left little doubt which volleyball team is the best in Division II.
The Golden Bears (35-2) swept Alaska Anchorage 26-19, 25-12, 25-12 on Saturday evening in the national championship match at the Sanford Pentagon.
Three players had at least 10 kills for top-seeded Concordia — Riley Hanson had 15, Mariya Sampson 11 and Anna Schlaak 10 — which won its eighth NCAA title in 10 years.
Hanson hit .650 on 20 attacks, and the Golden Bears hit .433 as a team. Setter Kasey Williams had 44 assists and 10 digs. Emily McDonough led Concordia in digs with 15.
The Golden Bears dominated every aspect of the match, getting more kills (50-23), assists (48-22), digs (51-27), blocks (6-3) and service aces (8-2).
The Seawolves hit .114, and their kill leader was Leah Swiss with eight. Alaska Anchorage (34-3) was seeded sixth in the Elite Eight.
"We did a really good job of serving tough," Concordia coach Brady Starkey said. "A big thing [vs.] that team — or any team, to be honest — is to try to get them so that they are not at the tape. Their setter does her best work when she is at the net. … They were getting balls up, but they were 5, 6 feet off the net."
Concordia won its final 19 matches this season, and the Golden Bears' eighth title gives them sole possession of second all-time for the most volleyball national championships, trailing only Division III Washington-St. Louis' record of 10 titles.
