ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia University volleyball team (23-3, 16-2 NSIC) swept the University of Mary (4-23, 1-17 NSIC) in their final NSIC regular season home game on Saturday afternoon. The Golden Bears went a perfect 10-0 in conference play on their home court and are 14-0 overall at the Gangelhoff Center this season.
The Golden Bears were dominant in all aspects of the game as they hit an impressive .388 as a team while limiting the Marauders to just a .011 hitting percentage in the match. Concordia also added seven aces compared to just one for U-Mary.
Mariya Sampson led the way in that category again with three aces to go along with her five kills and five digs.
Anna Schlaak collected a double-double as she led CU in both kills and digs with 14 and 11, respectively. She was extremely efficient with a .565 hitting percentage. Not to be outdone,
Riley Hanson was even more efficient as she hit .692 with 10 kills on just 13 attempts.
Kasey Williams was consistent as usual with 37 assists and five digs and
Taylor Dordan broke double digits with 10 digs as well.
U-Mary was held to just 21 kills for the match and Lauren Randall led the team with six kills. Janell Finkbeiner added 11 assists and a team-high seven digs.
Concordia made quick work of the first set as they scored nine of the first 11 points to build a large lead early. The lead hit double digits at 16-6 and continued to grow as the Golden Bears ran away with it and took the set 25-11.
The second set remained closer for a bit longer as the Marauders trailed by just one at 7-6 but a 9-0 run in favor of CU pushed the lead to double digits at 16-6. The lead didn't shrink below nine the rest of the way as the Golden Bears matched the final of the first set with a 25-11 set win.
The Golden Bears wasted no time to pull away in the third as they scored the first seven points of the set. After the teams traded the next few points, CU went on another big run with six points in a row to make it 17-3. U-Mary bounced back to match the Golden Bears the rest of the way as the third set ended the same way as the first two with a final score of 25-11.
Concordia is set for a huge matchup this Tuesday night as they battle Minnesota Duluth for Roast the Dogs in non-conference play as two of the top three teams in the country face off.
