ST. PAUL, Minn. - The #2 Concordia Golden Bears volleyball team (10-2, 3-1 NSIC) is back on the road this weekend as they travel to University of Mary (3-10, 0-4 NSIC) and Minot State (3-9, 1-3 NSIC) for a pair of NSIC conference matches.
THE MATCHUPS... Friday's matchup with the Mary Marauders is the 12th meeting between the two schools. CU has won the first 11 matches and have swept 10 of the 11. Back in 2007, the Marauders pushed the Golden Bears to five sets but were unable to get over the hump and get a win. Last year, Concordia cruised past the Mary Marauders in straight sets.
Kayla Koenecke did it all for the Golden Bears with 16 kills, six assists and four digs with a .619 hitting percentage while
Emily McDonough went into double digits in kills for the fifth straight match with 12 on only 16 attempts to hit .688.
On Saturday, the Golden Bears will face Minot State for the third time since the Beavers have joined the NSIC. Their first matchup came last season in MSU's first season in the NSIC. CU has won the first two meetings. Last season, Concordia outlasted the Beavers in a four set win. The Golden Bears got stellar performances from
Heather Schiller, who finished with eight blocks, and
Taylor Dordan, who led the team with 18 digs in the win. The Beavers received double-doubles from Jen Dixon, Mallory Sall and Emily Byrne.
LAST TIME OUT... The Golden Bears won their third straight with a sweep of Upper Iowa on Tuesday night. The Concordia defense was stifling as they limited UIU to only 25 kills and a .122 hitting percentage, keeping the Peacocks at .156 or below in each of the three sets. The Golden Bear attack only managed to hit .228 but were aided by six service aces.
Anna Schlaak was once again the focal point of the offense for CU as she led the team with 14 kills along with six digs. No other Golden Bears finished in double figures in kills but
Mariya Sampson and
Riley Hanson each chipped in eight. Sampson was impressive with her serve for the second consecutive match as she put up of four service aces for the second match in a row to bring her to a team-high 16 on the year.
NSIC RANKS... While it has been more of an equal opportunity attack for the Golden Bears this year, several CU players rank near the top in statistical categories in the league. Setter
Kasey Williams has averaged 11.81 assists per set to rank fourth in the NSIC throught the early part of the season.
Riley Hanson and
Mariya Sampson also each rank in the top-five in hitting percentage and service aces, respectively. Hanson is hitting .371 and Sampson has collected 0.41 aces per set.
Anna Schlaak ranks 10th in the league in kills at 3.60 per set as well.
HOME AWAY FROM HOME... The Golden Bears enter the weekend with only five road NSIC losses in 11+ seasons under head coach
Brady Starkey. Concordia had also gone a perfect 9-0 in nine combined trips to U-Mary and Minot State.
