Volleyball | 10.28.15
ST. PAUL, Minn. - The #3 Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (18-4, 12-2 NSIC) sets out to kick off a four-game road trip this weekend as they travel to Bemidji State (5-18, 3-11 NSIC) on Friday and Minnesota Crookston (7-15, 3-11 NSIC) on Saturday.
THE MATCHUPS... The Golden Bears hold a 28-8-1 all-time record against Bemidji State in 37 previous matches. CSP has won 26 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.
Last season, Concordia swept Bemidji State in St. Paul.
Anna Schlaak collected her third double-double of the season as she led the Golden Bears with 14 kills along with 17 digs.
Mariya Sampson was the only other Golden Bear to finish in double digits in kills with 12 kills and five digs. The team as a whole finished just just nine errors en route to a .342 hitting percentage in the win. They also won the battle at the net with 7.0 blocks compared to 3.0 for Bemidji State.
On Saturday, the Golden Bears meet the Golden Eagles for the 30th time in the history of the series. Concordia has won 27 in a row over UMC after dropping the first three matches. Minnesota Crookston's last win over Concordia came back on October 29, 1999. CSP has only dropped one set to the Golden Eagles since then, back on October 26, 2002.
In last year's meeting, Concordia's attack was efficient all night as they finished off the night with a .406 attack percentage as a team in the sweep of UMC. Their lowest percentage in any set was .333 in the first set. The defense was nearly as strong as they limited UMC to just .095 hitting.
Emma Lange led a balanced attack with 13 kills on just 20 attempts as she finished with an attack percentage of .550.
Anna Schlaak collected her second straight double-double with 12 kills and 11 digs while also hitting a strong .455 for the match.
LAST TIME OUT... The Golden Bears swept Minnesota State, St. Cloud State and Minnesota Duluth last week to extend their streak to four straight sweeps.
Junior
Riley Hanson had a dominant week en route to being named the NSIC Offensive Player of the Week as she hit .491 over the three matches with 3.41 kills per set. She finished with a total of 31 kills on 55 attacks as she flashes consistency with at least a .357 hitting percentage in each match. Hanson has been extremely efficient throughout the entire conference season as she leads the league with a .405 hitting percentage in NSIC play. To add to her offensive output, she also contributed 10 blocks over the three matches.
Senior libero
Taylor Dordan and junior setter
Kasey Williams also played starring roles in the 3-0 week for the Golden Bears as Dordan averaged 5.67 digs per set and Williams contributed 12.22 assists per set. Dordan led a defense to just an .089 hitting percentage while Williams guided the offense to a mark of .309. Consistency was key for each of them as Dordan had at least 14 digs in each match and double digit digs in 18 of 22 matches this year while Williams had at least 30 assists and six digs in each match over the week and picked up her 10th double-double of the season.
NCAA STATISTICAL LEADERS... Heading into the final stretch of the regular season, several players rank near the top statistically on the national level.
Kasey Williams went into the week registering in at fourth in assists per set at 12.21 while
Heather Schiller ranked 11th in the nation with 1.36 blocks per set.
Riley Hanson also moved up to 16th in NCAA DII with her .369 hitting percentage on the year. As a team, CSP ranks fifth in assists per set (13.69), eighth in kills per set (14.37), ninth in hitting percentage (.272) and 12th in blocks per set (2.49) as well.
