Concordia University St. Paul Athletics

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ST. PAUL, Minn. - Get a good seat on Friday night at 7 p.m. as the second-ranked Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (11-1, 3-0 NSIC) hosts the top-ranked team in the country, Minnesota Duluth (12-0, 3-0 NSIC), at Gangelhoff Center.

Aside from Concordia attempting to topple a top-ranked team for the second time in a three week span, the event will be Roast the Dogs, the annual hot dog cookout on the Gangelhoff Plaza beginning at 6 p.m. The first 200 fans will receive a hot dog and beverage with tunes blaring in the background.

The match starts at 7 p.m. as the two teams bring perfect 3-0 NSIC records into the competition. Overall, UMD is 12-0 and has received 44 out of 48 first place votes in the newest AVCA Division II Volleyball Top-25 Coaches Poll. The Golden Bears have received two of the 48 first place votes and are ranked second for the second consecutive week. Concordia's only loss is to eighth-ranked Wayne State (9-2).

The Golden Bears have also captured six consecutive NCAA Division II titles, and have won the NCAA Central Region Championship to reach nationals in eight out of 10 of head coach Brady Starkey's previous 10 years. The only other volleyball program to win a regional since 2003 is Minnesota Duluth (2004 & 2006).

Concordia has yet to drop a game in their three conference matches this season.  This past weekend, Concordia extended long winning streaks with a pair of sweeps against both of their opponents.  Concordia is 13-0 all-time against Upper Iowa and 24-7 against WSU, having won 22 straight against the Warriors.  Concordia extended their conference winning streak to 17 with a win over Minnesota State Tuesday night in another 3-0 victory.  Concordia's last conference loss came against Minnesota Duluth on September 28, 2012 in Duluth in four set defeat.  Minnesota State gave them their only other conference loss last season.  

Concordia boasts the NSIC leader in attack percentage in Kayla Koenecke (Delano, Minn. ) at .447.  Three other Golden Bears join her in the top 10 with Riley Hanson (Nevis, Minn.) second at .436, Heather Schiller (Coon Rapids, Minn.) fifth at .400 and Erienne Lauersdorf (Watertown, Wis. ) ninth at .368.  Concordia is hitting a league best .357.  Minnesota Duluth is second at .328.

Minnesota Duluth is coming off three conference sweeps in six days with wins over Minnesota Crookston, Bemidji State and St. Cloud State.  The Bulldogs have Preseason NSIC Player of the Year Kate Lange on the outside and she has started off the season with a league-high 223 kills (5.44 per set) with a .329 hitting percentage.  She is also tied for the team lead with 10 service aces and third on the team with 103 digs.  Junior libero Julie Rainey has been solid in the back row for the Bulldogs, ranking second in the NSIC with 5.07 digs per game.

Concordia is 17-21 all-time against the Bulldogs in a series that dates back to 1975. The Golden Bears are 9-11 at home against UMD. In the recent series, Concordia has won the last two meetings (both last November at Gangelhoff Center), four of the last five overall and 12 of the last 14. Since Concordia started a run of 10-straight NSIC Championships, Concordia is 17-10 against UMD.

The Golden Bears and Bulldogs have met one other time before as the #1 and #2 teams in the country back on November 2, 2010.  The #2 Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs came to St. Paul to take on the #1 Concordia Golden Bears and UMD lost in straight sets by scores of 25-15, 25-20 and 25-18.  As freshmen, Kayla Koenecke led the Golden Bears with 11 kills and a .500 hitting percentage and Amanda Konetchy had a double-double with 38 assists and 11 digs.  During their championship run, Concordia has been an amazing 6-0 against the #1-ranked team in the country.  Three of those six wins against the #1 team in the land have come against Minnesota Duluth.

On Saturday, Concordia hosts St. Cloud State for a 4 p.m. afternoon match to complete the weekend set.