CROOKSTON, Minn. – The #3 Concordia-St. Paul volleyball (20-4, 14-2 NSIC) extended their winning streak to six with a four-set win over Minnesota Crookston (7-17, 3-13 NSIC) on Saturday afternoon.
The Golden Bears remained unbeaten against the Golden Eagles since 1999 as CSP has rattled off 28 wins in a row in the all-time series. UMC's set win, however, was their first in the series since 2002.
In what was a relatively non-descript match, the Concordia defense was suffocating as they limited Minnesota Crookston to a miniscule .057 hitting percentage and forced 27 attack errors and collected 7.0 blocks.
As a team, CSP hit .241 and collected 63 kills as they also edged UMC three service aces to one.
One night after going a perfect 12-0-12 in the win over Bemidji State,
Riley Hanson provided an impressive encore with 17 kills and an efficient .667 hitting percentage. Amazingly, Hanson hit .778 (29-1-36) over the weekend as she furthered her lead in hitting percentage in NSIC play as she increased that mark to .448. She also added three more blocks as well.
Emma Lange was not to be outdone as she also contributed 17 kills and a pair of blocks as she hit .452 for the match. Her solid night rose her hitting percentage in league play at .407 as she trails just Hanson in that category.
Kasey Williams chipped in her 12
th double-double with an impressive 55 assists and 10 digs while
Anna Schlaak registered her seventh with 10 kills and 16 digs.
Taylor Dordan and
Emily McDonough led the way defensively as they finished the match tied for the team lead with 18 digs apiece.
Maggie Perrel paced the Golden Eagles with nine kills while Casey Cashman led all players with 21 digs.
Concordia got off to a fast start in the first set as they took the first seven points of the match. That lead quickly hit double figures at 13-3 as the Golden Bears held the Golden Eagles from pulling closer than eight the rest of the way. That point came at 17-9 before Concordia went on an 8-2 run to close out the opening set 25-11.
The Golden Eagles showed some resolved in the second set as they bounced back and took an early 8-7 lead. The Golden Bears responded with nine of the next 10 points to build a 16-9 lead of their own. Minnesota Crookston quickly closed the gap back to three with a 4-0 run and eventually got back within two at 18-16 as well as several more times as they pushed CSP down the stretch. With the Golden Bears still up two at 22-20, UMC surged to claim five of the final six sets to ensure the match would go at least four sets with a 25-23 set win.
The third set shifted back in favor of the Golden Bears as they set the tone by taking five of the first seven points. The lead grew from there as it reached eight at 15-7 and didn't shrink below four for the remainder of the set. Concordia and Minnesota Crookston mostly traded points the rest of the set as the CSP advantage hovered between four and eight before they closed it out 25-18.
The Golden Bears turned it on from the start in the fourth set as they raced out to an early 13-3 lead as they created a comfortable cushion. They continued to stretch the lead as it reached as large as 14 at 20-6 as Concordia remained in control. The Golden Eagles didn't give up, however, as they closed the gap back down to 10 with four straight in their favor. CSP responded with five of the final seven points to close out the match with a 25-12 set win in the fourth.
Concordia remains on the road next weekend as they travel to #6 Wayne State and #21 Augustana for a big NSIC weekend.
