ST. PAUL, Minn. - The top-seeded #1 Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (27-4) will open up NCAA Central Region Tournament action against eighth-seeded Southwestern Oklahoma State (22-11) on Thursday night at the Gangelhoff Center.
The Golden Bears have won 13 consecutive matches and 21 of their past 22 as they embark on the postseason seeking an eighth NCAA Championship in nine years.
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULEQuarterfinals, Thursday, December 3 - Gangelhoff Center
12:00 p.m. - No. 3 Southwest Minnesota State (25-5) vs. No. 6 Washburn (28-5)
2:30 p.m. - No. 2 Central Missouri (30-4) vs. No. 7 Wayne State (24-7)
5:00 p.m. - No. 4 Central Oklahoma (30-4) vs. No. 5 Nebraska-Kearney (29-6)
7:30 p.m. - No. 1 Concordia-St. Paul (27-4) vs. No. 8 Southwestern Oklahoma State (22-11)
Semifinals, Friday, December 4 - Gangelhoff Center
5:00 p.m. - SMSU/WU winner vs UCM/WSC winner
7:30 p.m. - UCO/UNK winner vs CSP/SWOSU winner
Championship, Saturday, December 5 - Gangelhoff Center
7:00 p.m. - Semifinal winners
THE MATCHUPThe Golden Bears meet the Bulldogs for the first time in series history in the opening round matchup. SWOSU, the Great American Conference (GAC) tournament champions, entered the conference tournament as the four seed before claiming the crown and earned the automatic bid to their first ever NCAA Tournament.
The winner will advance to face either fourth-seeded #14 Central Oklahoma or fifth-seeded #12 Nebraska-Kearney on Friday night. A meeting between CSP and UCO would be the first in the series while the Golden Bears have faced UNK three previous times. All three meetings between Concordia and the Lopers of Nebraska-Kearney have come in the NCAA Tournament with the Golden Bears claiming three wins. The last meeting came in St. Paul back in 2012 in the region title match.
Against other opponents in the tournament, CSP has gone 8-0 against second-seeded #8 Central Missouri and 3-1 against sixth-seeded #15 Washburn as well as 29-11 and 30-22-1 against fellow NSIC schools in seventh-seeded #11 Wayne State and third-seeded #4 Southwest Minnesota State, respectively.
LAST TIME OUTThe Golden Bears claimed their fourth NSIC Tournament title to secure the automatic bid as they knocked off then-#21 Winona State in the championship match back on Nov. 22.
The Golden Bears picked up their first title since they won three in a row from 2004 to 2006. The win also gave Concordia the season sweep of both the NSIC regular season and tournament titles for the fourth time in program history.
Concordia's
Riley Hanson and
Emma Lange headlined the All-Tournament Team for their performances. In the championship, the duo of
Emma Lange and
Anna Pioske was dynamic as the two of them both contributed a match-high 20 kills on the day. The 20 kills represented a new career high for Pioske while it was just two short of Lange's career best. Lange hit an incredible .679 to set a new career high as she committed only one error. Pioske also added 10 digs to give her four double-doubles in the past six matches.
NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORYThe Golden Bears have made it into the NCAA Tournament field in all 13 seasons under head coach
Brady Starkey and have won nine Central Region titles during that span. CSP has gone 53-5 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and collected a record seven consecutive NCAA Division II National Championships from 2007-13, including a 43-match winning streak that was snapped in the Central Region semifinals last year by national runner-up Southwest Minnesota State, this year's third seed.
This weekend marks the first time since 2012 and eighth time overall that the Golden Bears have hosted the NCAA Central Region Tournament. Before 2012, Concordia served as regional host six times in a seven year span from 2003-09 with the only exception coming in 2007. In the NCAA Tournament, including two Elite Eights, CSP has gone 23-2 and have claimed five region titles and a pair of national titles on their home court. The Golden Bears are 10-0 in regional quarterfinals (two byes) and have won their first match of the tournament all 12 years under Starkey. Concordia has reached the NCAA Region Championship (Sweet Sixteen) every year with the exception of last year.
NCAA STATISTICAL LEADERSHeading into the tournament, several players rank near the top statistically on the national level.
Kasey Williams went into the week registering in at third in assists per set at 12.21 while
Riley Hanson sits at sixth in NCAA DII with her .415 hitting percentage. As a team, CSP also ranks fourth in hitting percentage (.283), seventh in assists per set (13.58) and ninth in kills per set (14.29).
