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The hype building up to a big game is often followed abruptly by a letdown. Maybe the actual game is a blowout. Maybe one side, or maybe both, play poorly and the contest becomes anticlimactic. Last Saturday night, however, was one of those magical times when all the hype in the world couldn’t rise to the level of the actual event. It was at Romano Gym last Saturday night, and the UMD volleyball team won a dramatic and exhausting five-set victory over Concordia University.

Consider what the most exciting single sports event in Duluth has been for calendar year 2013. Some might point to a certain UMD football game, or a men’s, or women’s, hockey game. Or maybe the dramatic Section 7AA high school hockey final, when Duluth East held off a courageous rally by Grand Rapids to escape from AMSOIL Arena with a one-goal victory for a berth in the state tournament. Me? I’m picking that volleyball match, when the No. 1 team in the country played to its full potential and UMD played as brilliantly as it had to and won the showdown.
    With league playoffs starting Wednesday, the NSIC tournament could wind up with Concordia and UMD both advancing and winning Saturday semifinals, which would create another enormous showdown between the two on Sunday for the league playoff title, with NCAA tournament overtones. “It’s a shame, in the end, that both teams can’t advance,” said UMD coach Jim Boos. “Our region is so strong, that one of us will be eliminated before the final 8.”

UMD may be better known around the country because of its Division I hockey achievements, and its two Division II football championships. But when it comes to volleyball, everybody knows about Concordia University of St. Paul, a little college with a campus tucked in just south of the Interstate 94 frontage road where it meets Hamline Avenue. It took a month of grueling playoffs for UMD to win its football titles, but consider this: Concordia University has won six consecutive NCAA Division II volleyball championships. Six in a row. Six. Every year, you might as well pin the No. 1 ranking on their backs and start another season. Once in a while, some other team, usually UMD, builds up enough athletic equity to challenge Concordia. This season, UMD started the season ranked No. 1, right up until September 27, when the Bulldogs visited the Concordia gym, battled tooth and nail, only to ultimately lose 3-2. Since then, it has been a chase, with Concordia flying high and deserving to hold the nation’s No. 1 rank, while UMD stayed in hot pursuit right up until that final regular-season date.

Both teams have exceptional winning traditions, and both knew what they’d be up against. The night was crisp outside, and Romano Gym was filled with over 1,800 fans inside -- many of whom presumably had never seen volleyball played at this level. Maybe some thought it was that nice, pastoral game played at picnics and friendly gatherings. No. This is something more than that, where players fly to the rafters for a kill-shot that could stun an ox, dive to the floor to beat an opposing kill from getting there, popping the ball up to a setter who gently lofts a high, soft feed to precisely the right spot to become another booming kill-shot. Both teams have rosters full of capable players, with many of them much better than just capable.

Concordia’s players have an incredible aura about them, joking around on the sidelines, always smiling, always upbeat, as if they ARE playing a sandlot picnic game. “That’s Concordia,” said Boos. “They don’t ever succumb to any pressure. That’s what makes them so special; great play or bad play, it’s just another match to them. “They were down two games to none in the national finals last year, and they were the same way. And they came back to win three straight. So I told our girls, being up 2-0 didn’t mean a damn thing.”

Well, it meant a few things. The first game was tied 23-23 when Kate Lange hammered a shot through the formidable Concordia blockers. Lange, who already has set UMD’s all-time record for career kills, came back to hit another one and secure a 25-23 victory in Game 1. It was more of the same in Game 2, which UMD led by scores of 16-10, 18-14, and 20-15. Concordia closed it to 22-18, but UMD closed it out with Lange delivering two monster kills at the finish for a 25-18 triumph.

After two games, the teams get to retire and regroup in the locker rooms. That’s when Boos delivered his “doesn’t-mean-a-damn-thing” address. Concordia came back on the court loose and happy, and overcame repeated ties up to and including 15-15, then on up trading points to 19-19. But Concordia’s balanced hitting and solid blocking prevailed for a 25-21 verdict in Game 3. Nine times the score was tied in that game, the last time at 22-all, but Concordia reeled off three straight points and won 25-22 to even the series at two games each.
   The fifth game goes to the first team to reach 15, and after falling behind 2-1, the Bulldogs took charge. It was tied five times, at 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, 5-5, and 6-6, but after that, it seemed that Julie Rainey was diving to the floor for dig after dig, and Ashley Hinsch sent perfect sets over to Lange time after time. Lange, a bigger-than-life senior from Hibbing, spent the rest of the game as she had spent most of the first four -- soaring above the net and blasting shots through Concordia blockers. UMD crept ahed 8-6, and the teams changed ends, just in case the floor might be tilted one way or the other. A block made it 9-6, Lange’s slam made it 10-6, Monica Turner’s kill made it 11-6, and it broiled on.

During a time out, Boos said he spoke with his ace setter. “When it got down to the end, I told Ashley that ‘Kate gets the ball’ ” Boos said. UMD took a time out at 14-10. Concordia closed to 14-11, but Hinsch launched her 61st set assist and Kate Lange sent the ball thundering to the floor on Concordia’s side for a 15-11 victory and the match, at 3-2.

Lange was asked about all her kills and she asked, “How many did I have?” When I told her 31, she was surprised. The most she’s ever gotten was 33. “The crazy part is everybody had a big part in this,” Lange added. Rainey wound up with 30 digs, surpassing the UMD record of 1,703 set by Cheryl Carlson in 1991. Rainey now has 1,710. “How many of them did you get while upright on both feet?” I asked her. “About half,” she laughed. “I always dive, but no, I’ve never worked on gymnastics. This was great. We knew at 2-0 that Concordia always battles back. But we came through this time.” Boos said: “Both Kate and Julie were great. And Ashley not only had 61 assists, she also had 5 kills and 4 block assists.” The best thing about the match is that often in big games, one team wins because the other had a reason to play below its usual standards. Not this time. Concordia played like the best team in the country, but UMD was good enough to overcome that and win.

“That may be true,” Boos allowed. “I thought we played well in the first two games, and maybe we played just as well in Games 3 and 4, but Concordia just played better than us in those two games. But I was really proud of the way we battled back in the fifth game.
And we know now for sure that when we play the way we’re capable of playing, we can beat anybody.”