ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (24-4, 17-2 NSIC) defeated MSU Moorhead (10-17, 5-14 NSIC) in four sets (25-19, 25-17, 22-25, 25-15) on Friday night.
 
The Golden Bears nearly doubled up the Dragons in efficiency as they hit .333 compared .168 for MSUM. CU continued their dominance at the net as they collected 12.0 blocks while MSU Moorhead had 6.0.
 
Anna Schlaak was sensational with a career-best 20 kills to go along with 10 digs to pick up her 11^th double-double on the season. She hit an efficient .457 in the match her 20 kills came on just 35 attempts.
 
Kasey Williams shared the wealth after that as three other Golden Bears collect double digit kills. Riley Hanson and Mariya Sampson each had 12 kills while Emma Lange added 11 as well. Sampson also set a career high with six blocks and Lange hit .409 in the match.
 
Williams was solid with 53 assists and nine digs as she fell just short of also picking up her 11^th double-double of the year. Taylor Dordan led the team with 14 digs as well.
 
Kaitlin VanWinkle led the Dragons with 14 kills while Maggie Gruber chipped in 13 in the losing effort.
 
The first set proved to be a challenge as the Dragons held a slight lead for much of the early part of the set. MSU Moorhead led as late as the 14-12 mark before Concordia took the lead for good at 16-15. CU used a 5-0 run to push their lead to 23-17 lead before the teams traded the final four points to bring it to a final score of 25-19.
 
The Golden Bears carried the momentum into the second set as they didn't allow the Dragons to take a single lead in the entire set. MSUM hung around at 13-11 but five straight points in favor of CU quickly put the lead out of reach. The lead ballooned to double digits at 24-14 before MSU Moorhead slightly closed the gap a bit and Concordia won the set 25-17.
 
MSU Moorhead came out firing in the third set with four out of the first five points and 10 out of the first 14 as they took control early. Their lead grew to eight at 15-7 but the Golden Bears fought back to close the gap to two at 15-12. CU would further close the gap as they cut it down to one at 21-20 but it wasn't enough as the Dragons rebounded to win the set 25-22 and force a fourth set.
 
Concordia wasted no time building an early advantage in the fourth set as they ran out to a 5-1 lead. MSUM kept it close for a while as they trailed by just five at 13-8 before a 6-1 run for CU pushed the lead out to 10 at 19-9. The Dragons were unable to work their way back in it as the Golden Bears cruised to a 25-15 set win to claim the match in four.
 
Despite the Golden Bears' win, Minnesota Duluth clinched the NSIC regular season title with a sweep of Sioux Falls. The Bulldogs win means Concordia falls short of winning their 12^th consecutive NSIC regular season crown.
 
The Golden Bears wrap up the regular season tomorrow at 5 p.m. as they travel to Aberdeen, S.D. to take on the Northern State Wolves.