mankato, minn. - concordia university cruised to a 3-0 win in another meeting between two top-10 ranked teams on friday evening. The victory gave the golden bears (22-0, 11-0 nsic) their 59th straight win and ended minnesota state's (20-3, 10-1 nsic) 12-match winning streak, handing them their first nsic loss in the process. In the win, cu senior maggie mcnamara became the new all-time assists leader for the golden bears and moved into fifth place on the ncaa career assists list with 6,745. box score

the golden bears went into the taylor center ready to compete and opened the first set with a 10-3 run. Kills from emily palkert and aces from sadie kessler contributed to the run, notable because the mavericks are one of the best defending and receiving teams in the conference. Minnesota state would get to within two points late in the set at 22-20 behind kills from ally kwikkel, but the golden bears sealed the 25-20 win with impressive defense and another service ace from kessler. megan carlson led the set with five kills, eventually ending with a team high 13 on the match.

concordia's second set was more typical of how their season has run, putting up a score of 25-16 against their formidable foe. The golden bears once again started the set with a momentum-shifting 9-2 run with additional kills from palkert, including three straight to end the run.

the third and final set was a barn-burner for the mavericks. Minnesota state figured out a way to hang with the golden bears through most of the set, leading 19-16 when things got heated. Concordia refused to give up another set in nsic play, however, and finished the win with a solid 9-1 run. Carlson was behind the line for seven points, serving up a set of aces and relying on her offense to do the rest of the work.

the golden bears outmatched the mavericks (.188) with a .321 hitting average and 47 kills. Carlson led the way offensively with 13 kills followed by palkert with 10. The defense held the mavericks to 37 kills on the night with a team high 11 digs from mary slinger and 10 from carlson. Mcnamara completed her notable assist run with 39 on the night.

the mavericks did not have a player finish in double figures for kills, although they had numerous players share the offensive putout. Chelsea fogarty finished with a team high eight kills, followed by amanda thompson and kwikkel with seven each. Minnesota state topped cu with 41 digs, including a match high of 15 from alli rice.

the golden bears are in action again tomorrow afternoon, taking on #15 southwest minnesota state.