ST. PAUL, Minn. - The #3 Concordia Golden Bears (12-2, 5-1 NSIC) are back at the Gangelhoff Center this weekend as they play host to Bemidji State (3-10, 1-5 NSIC) and Minnesota Crookston (7-7, 1-5 NSIC).
THE MATCHUPS... Concordia holds a 27-8-1 all-time record against Bemidji State in 36 previous matches. CU has won 25 in a row against the Beavers with the last BSU win in the series coming back on November 3, 2001 in Bemidji. Concordia was 0-6-1 in the first seven matches before picking up their first win over Bemidji State. CU rolled BSU in the last meeting last season as
Erienne Lauersdorf had 14 kills and
Kayla Koenecke had a double-double in a sweep on November 8th.
On Saturday, the Golden Bears meet the Golden Eagles for the 29th time in the history of the series. Concordia has won 26 in a row over UMC after dropping the first three matches. Minnesota Crookston's last win over Concordia came back on October 29, 1999. CU has only dropped one set to the Golden Eagles since then, back on October 26, 2002. The Golden Bears last met the Golden Eagles last November 20th in the opening round of the NSIC Tournament.
Kayla Koenecke and
Erienne Lauersdorf led the way offensively with 10 kills apiece as
Emily McDonough had nine. Koenecke also added 10 digs to pick up the double-double.
LAST TIME OUT... The Golden Bears extended their winning streak to five as they went a perfect 3-0, taking all nine sets, last week. The Golden Bears swept UIU in Fayette on Tuesday before traveling to North Dakota and sweeping U-Mary and Minot State. The team hit .321 while holding opponents to .105. They also out-blocked their opponents 22.0-7.0 for the week.
Sophomore middle blocker
Riley Hanson was dominant as she hit .500 with 34 kills (3.78 per set) with only five errors en route to being named the NSIC Offensive Player of the Week. Her best match came against Minot State as she hit .737 with a 14-0-19 to finish with tied for the sixth best hitting percentage in school history.
Kasey Williams continued her strong start to the season with 115 assists (12.78 per set) along with 26 digs (2.89 per set) for the week. The junior picked up at least 37 assists in each match and collected her seventh double-double on the year against UIU.
NSIC RANKS... With a bunch of new faces in the Cocordia lineup, several CU players rank near the top in statistical categories in the league. Setter
Kasey Williams has averaged 11.96 assists per set to rank fourth in the NSIC throught the early part of the season.
Riley Hanson has a .400 hitting percentage which is third best in the league and
Mariya Sampson has also collected 0.38 aces per set to rank fifth in the NSIC.
