PENSACOLA, Fla. – The top-seeded #3 Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (34-3) claimed their ninth NCAA Division II Volleyball National Championship in 11 years with a sweep of Florida Southern (30-7) at UWF Field House on Saturday night.
 
The Golden Bears made it back-to-back titles to bring their total to nine, putting them within one of Division III Washington-Louis's NCAA record 10 volleyball championships. Concordia also improved to a staggering 67-6 all-time in the NCAA Tournament with their current winning streak hitting 12 with the win. In addition, CSP has won an incredible 29 matches in 31 tries in the final three rounds of the tournament, including 27 in a row.
 
"We are unbelievably excited," said head coach Brady Starkey. He added, "It's been an uphill climb and an emotional season for this team. It's fun to watch them compete because they never really give up on each other. They have been doing it over and over and I am super proud of them tonight."

Concordia remained unbeaten against the Mocs as they made it six wins in as many meetings in the all-time series, including one on the opening day and one on the final day of the year this season. Tonight's match snapped Florida Southern's 23 match winning streak as the Mocs won the Sunshine State Conference and were host of the NCAA South Region Tournament.
 
The Golden Bears took advantage of relatively mistake-free volleyball as they committed just 13 hitting errors on 117 swings while tallying 49 kills for a .308 hitting percentage. Florida Southern, meanwhile, finished as .211 for the match with 37 kills.
 
CSP's back row put on another impressive display with 58 digs in the three sets while the Mocs finished with 10 less at 48.
 
Elizabeth Mohr put together another masterful performance for the Golden Bears with 43 assists on the team's 49 kills while adding 10 digs as well to be named the NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player. The double-double was Mohr's fourth in six NCAA Tournament matches and 10^th on the season. The junior wrapped up her season as the nation's leader in assists per set with an impressive 13.19 per set.

When asked about being named the Most Outstanding Player, Mohr said, "I was absolutely shocked. All credit will go to my teammates because I can't do anything if a pass doesn't come to me. We have a back row scrapping for balls on every single point so I can't do anything if the balls aren't coming up. And obviously I am so lucky with hitters in every single position that I am confident going to that can terminate at any time."

Shelby Seurer closed out her Concordia career in style as she paced all players with 16 kills while committing just a single error to hit an efficient .556 on the night. The senior also added four blocks on the night to secure a place on the All-Tournament Team.
 
Reflecting on her time as a Golden Bear, Seurer said, "It's been so much fun playing for this program. It's shaped into who I am and this team has been such a fun team to be a senior on. It was clear that everybody bought into what we were doing and what we wanted to achieve. It's a crazy way to go out and I couldn't ask for any other way to end. Concordia volleyball is like nothing else."

Hope Schiller joined Seurer in double figures with 10 kills while also contributing elsewhere with six digs and four blocks to also grab a place on the All-Tournament Team. Rounding out Concordia's selections to the team was Brooklyn Lewis, who finished with nine kills and a .292 hitting percentage in the win. Lewis capped off a sensational season in which she became the first CSP player since 2006 to average over 4.00 kills per set as her 4.01 kills per set rank seventh in single-season program history. Her 542 total kills for the season also rank sixth at Concordia.
 
While it was a relatively quiet night for senior Mariya Sampson as she finished with seven kills, she took care of business when called upon as she didn't commit a single error in 16 swings, putting up a .438 hitting percentage. It was a memorable weekend for the senior outside hitter as she not only took home her second national title, but she also joined the 1,000 kill club. Sampson finishes her career in 20^th in program history with 1,024 kills over her four years in navy and gold.
 
The freshman duo of Tori Hanson and Erin Fallert closed out their debut season for the Golden Bears strong as Hanson led the team with 13 digs while Fallert followed close behind with 12. Both players added an ace as well.
 
Nicole Mattson paced the Mocs with 12 kills as she was their only hitter in double figures while Bethany Basancenez picked up a double-double with 34 assists and 16 digs in the loss.
 
The opening set was incredibly even with a massive 18 ties and nine lead changes as neither team led by more than two throughout. With CSP taking a 3-2 lead out of the gate, Florida Southern scored the next three points in what was one the longest runs of the set to go up 5-3. The Mocs used another 3-0 burst to pull ahead 10-8 before the two teams resumed trading points. Down 21-20, Concordia used a pair of FSC errors to take a 22-21 lead and force a timeout. The momentum shifted back with two more points the other way to put Florida Southern back out front 23-22, but the Golden Bears came storming back with the next three points to win the set 25-23.
 
The second set began in much of the same way with 10 ties and three lead changes by the 12-11 mark as FSC held a slight edge. The momentum shifted dramatically from there with CSP scoring seven straight points to take the lead for good at 18-12. The Mocs cut it to three with three points in a row, but the Golden Bears put their foot back on the gas as they finished the set strong to take a 2-0 lead in the match with a 25-20 set win.
 
After a pair of sets that were back and forth, the Golden Bears jumped ahead early in the third set and didn't look back. CSP built a 7-3 edge with a 4-0 run and did not trail the rest of the way. The lead hit five at 11-6 and grew to as many as six at 16-10 before Florida Southern started to battle back. A stretch of four straight points cut the Concordia advantage to two at 16-14, but the Golden Bears held their composure as they did not let the lead shrink any further. Still up two at 20-18, CSP took four of the next five points to force match point. After an FSC kill, a service error for the Mocs finished it out and sent the Golden Bears into a frenzy as they piled up on the court.
 
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