MANKATO, Minn. – The fourth-ranked Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (16-4, 10-2 NSIC) picked up a midweek sweep of Minnesota State (12-8, 6-6 NSIC) on Tuesday night.
The Golden Bears improved to 22-4 against the Mavericks as they finished off the regular season sweep after sweeping Minnesota State in St. Paul in the conference opener.
Concordia's defense shined as they held MSU to just a .144 hitting percentage as they forced 17 attack errors and collected 8.0 blocks. The offense slowed down slightly from their recent torrid pace but still managed to hit .279 in the win.
With just 45 kills as a team on the night, five different Golden Bears registered at least seven kills in a balanced attack.
Anna Schlaak paced the offense with 12 kills while
Riley Hanson hit a solid .474 with 10 kills on the night.
Emily McDonough fell a kill short of a double-double with nine kills and 10 digs and
Heather Schiller and
Emma Lange each chipped in seven kills apiece.
Kasey Williams finished with 43 assists as she led the offense while
Taylor Dordan secured the defense with 19 digs.
Hope Schiller was also active in the back row with eight digs to go along with three service aces.
Krista Hassing led the way for the Mavericks with 11 kills while Rissi McNallan finished in double figured with 13 digs.
The Golden Bears set the tone for the match early in the first set as they used a 7-0 run to turn a 4-3 deficit into a 10-4 lead. Concordia poured it on from there as they extended the lead to nine at 16-7 before an 11-4 run for the Mavericks cut that lead to 20-18. Minnesota State eventually scratched their way back even at 24-24, but the Golden Bears rebounded to snag the final two points to win the set 26-24.
The second set was all CSP in the early going as well with the Golden Bears putting up nine of the first 12 points to build a comfortable lead. The lead shrunk quickly as the Mavericks bounced back with five of the next six but once again couldn't take the lead as Concordia held strong. The lead gradually grew from there as the Golden Bears eventually rolled to a 2-0 lead in the match with a 25-15 set win.
After Concordia ran out to a 10-6 lead in the third, MSU surged ahead to a 17-11 lead as they looked to avoid the sweep. That lead would be short-lived, however, as CSP strung together a 9-2 run to regain the lead. After Minnesota State evened it at 20, the Golden Bears took five of the final six points to complete the sweep with a 25-21 win in the third.
The Golden Bears return home this weekend as St. Cloud State and #8 Minnesota Duluth come to town.
