When Concordia-St. Paul and Western Washington stared across the net at one another before the Division II women’s volleyball final December 1, each team saw a spitting image of itself in style and substance.

Both are known for playing great defense, and both programs were hungry for their first NCAA volleyball title.

Fortunately for Concordia-St. Paul, it had junior Maria Steinhagen, who was the most unstoppable force in the match. Steinhagen recorded a .500 attack percentage en route to a match-high 26 kills to lead the Golden Bears to a 30-26, 23-30, 30-19, 31-29 victory over Western Washington in Topeka, Kansas.

The victory meant the Golden Bears’ volleyball team was the first to bring a national championship trophy to the Concordia-St. Paul campus.

“When you have two teams that hit the ball and play incredible defense, it is fun to watch,” said Concordia-St. Paul coach Brady Starkey, whose team finished the season 37-4. “When someone finally wins a point after working so hard, it’s a great feeling. Then you go on to the next point.”
Usually that meant sophomore setter Maggie McNamara feeding Steinhagen for an attack.

It was a scenario that meant trouble time after time for Western Washington, which saw its 21-match win streak end.

“We ran into a buzz saw with Steinhagen,” said Vikings coach Diane Flick. “She hit outstanding, and we just weren’t able to contain her enough.”

Steinhagen was particularly dominant in the third game of the final. The Golden Bears took a 2-1 lead thanks to 10 kills by Steinhagen, including five of the last eight points for her team.

“I saw what was working,” said Steinhagen, an all-tournament selection. “If I went in hard every time, it seemed to be working. Maggie (McNamara) gave great sets and the passing was great.”
When the Vikings weren’t frustrated by Steinhagen’s consistent attacks, they had additional headaches when their offense was thwarted by Concordia-St. Paul’s scrambling defense.

“It makes you either want to pull your hair out or let it go gray,” Flick said.

Concordia-St. Paul had 109 digs in the match with libero Mary Slinger registering a team-high 35.
Western Washington, 26-5, almost forced a deciding fifth game by taking a 29-28 lead in the fourth game. But Concordia-St. Paul rallied to score the final three points to clinch the championship.

Freshman Emily Palkert had the honor of scoring on match point by recording her 15th kill of the final.

Western Washington was led by Emily Castro’s 19 kills. Angie Alvord had 16 kills with a .342 attack percentage.

After his team had the victory in hand, Starkey was still amazed at how similar the two squads were.

“It was a war of attrition between two teams that played great defense,” Starkey said. “It’s our kind of game, and their kind of game.”

Quarterfinals
Western Wash. def. Dowling, 30-17, 30-28, 30-19; Washburn def. Tampa, 24-30, 30-22, 18-30, 31-29, 15-8; West Tex. A&M def. Grand Valley St., 27-30, 30-24, 30-27, 26-30, 22-20; Concordia-St. Paul def. California (Pa.), 30-26, 30-25, 30-22.
Semifinals
Western Wash. def. Washburn, 23-30, 30-23, 30-26, 30-20; Concordia-St. Paul def. West Tex. A&M, 30-17, 30-22, 29-31, 30-19

Championship
Concordia-St. Paul 30 23 30 31
Western Wash. 26 30 19 29

Western Wash. K E TA Pct. A SA D TB
Allison Gotz 0 0 0 .000 0 0 7 0
Jaime Anderson 9 5 55 .073 0 0 15 2
Angie Alvord 16 3 38 .342 0 1 3 4
Tiana Roma 12 1 29 .379 0 0 3 2 Katie Robinson 1 0 4 .250 52 0 9 2
Emily Castro 19 7 60 .200 0 0 15 2
Megan Amundson 3 0 12 .250 2 0 3 1
Shasta Bennett 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0
Courtney Schneider 0 1 4 .250 1 0 36 0
Kathryn Mertens 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0
Kari Rice 1 0 1 1.000 0 0 0 0
Totals 61 17 203 .217 55 1 91 13

Concordia-St. Paul K E TA Pct. A SA D TB
Maggie McNamara 2 0 5 .400 71 2 17 6
Maria Steinhagen 26 3 46 .500 1 0 1 5
Sadie Kessler 9 5 24 .167 2 0 6 0
Kate Bennett 18 6 44 .273 0 0 4 0
Whitney Meierotto 11 7 44 .091 1 1 25 2
Emily Palkert 15 4 38 .289 0 0 0 2
Mary Slinger 0 0 1 .000 3 0 35 0
Rachel Knutsen 0 0 1 .000 0 2 12 0
Krista Erickson 1 1 5 .000 0 0 9 0
Totals 82 26 208 .269 78 5 109 15