ST. PAUL, Minn. — After a magical run through the Great American Conference Championships, Southern Nazarene had high hopes heading into the NCAA Division II Central Regional Championships. Those hopes hit a buzz saw in the No. 1 team in the land, Concordia-St. Paul, as the Storm fell, 3-0 (25-14, 25-19, 25-12) Thursday night in the opening round.
 
The Crimson Storm (20-11), who were making the program's first appearance in the NCAA Tournament, just couldn't match the Golden Bears (30-2) who won seven straight national championships frim 2007-13.
 
Courtney Bowie led the way for SNU with six kills and a block. Lexie Matthews also had five kills and a block. McKayla Benner and McKenna Qualls each had four kills while Qualls had a block. Elyse Berlin also had four kills to go with her 17 assists and four digs. Hannah Davis had 13 digs while Bailee Turang finished with eight. Abbey Bell also had six digs.
 
The Storm were held to a .010 clip (24-23-96) while the Golden Bears hit .265. SNU had 39 digs and four blocks while CSP had 43 digs and 13 blocks.
 
The Golden Bears jumped out to a 9-2 lead from the first set and didn't let off the gas. Concordia pushed it to 19-7, before the Storm went on a 6-3 run capped by a Lexie Matthews kill to cut it to 22-13. CSP though closed the set on a 3-1 run to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
 
Concordia got out to another early lead in the second set at 7-3, but the Storm kept the Golden Bears within striking range. SNU trailed 10-6 when Concordia went on an 8-6 run to lead 18-12. McKenna Qualls though ripped a kill to start an 8-2 run to cut it to 20-18. CSP though closed the set on a 5-1 streak to take the second set and a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
In the final set, the Bears got out to an 8-2 lead and didn't look back. The Storm cut it to 19-11 and looked to be getting back into the set, but CSP used a 6-1 run to close the match.