SIOUX CITY, IA --- Down 2-0 to a team they haven't beaten since 2004, it would've been easy for the Eagles to lay down and take a sweep in the NAIA National Championship Semifinals Saturday morning. Concordia fought back, however, forcing a fifth set before falling to Fresno Pacific.

The Eagles finish the season at 30-8, and finish in the semifinals or better for the fourth consecutive season and fifth time in program history.

It's also the second year in a row that Concordia has been ousted from Fresno Pacific (37-0), which downed CUI by a 3-2 score in last year's title match.

The 18-25, 23-25, 25-20, 25-22, 11-15 loss is CUI's third of the year to FPU, which advances to the final round for the sixth time in program history.

Concordia was led by 16 kills from freshman opposite Brooke Marino, who posted double-digit kills in all five matches of the tournament--her longest stretch of double-figures kills of the year. Junior opposite Amber Ridens finished with 15 kills and hit .310 (15-6-29), as senior outside hitter Stephanie Darnall earned a double-double with 13 kills and 11 digs.

Concordia got itself a win in the third set to avoid what would have been its third sweep of the season against the three-time NAIA champion Sunbirds, and pulled off a 25-22 win in a fourth set that featured 14 tied scores and six lead changes.

The Eagles picked up the lead for good when junior outside hitter Alexandra Barsotti notched a service ace at 22-21, and Concordia gained a 23-21 advantage on an FPU hitting error. With senior libero Jenna Salo serving, CUI closed the set out on a pair of kills from Marino to force a first-to-15 finale.

The finale was as close as the previous two sets, as the score was tied as late as 7-7. FPU gained an 11-7 advantage thanks to a pair of unforced errors from CUI and a Sunbird block, and closed out the set at 15-11.

Freshman middle blocker Amy Van Buren notched seven block assists in the loss.

In first-year head coach Kyle Kvasnicka's debut at the collegiate level, the Eagles post their fourth consecutive 30-win season and fifth in school history.

Photo Gallery

Photos from the tournament can be found at the Photo Gallery link at cuieagles.com, or by clicking here. The photos are courtesy of Don Van Buren, Joe Reinsch and Gene Knudsen, whose images can be found at www.siouxlandsportsauthority.com.