WAYNE, Neb. – The top-ranked Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (21-4, 15-2 NSIC) picked up a huge road win over third-ranked Wayne State (22-4, 14-3 NSIC) in four sets on Friday night. Riley Hanson surpassed 1,000 kills in the win.
 
The two teams entered the evening in a tie for first in the NSIC along with Northern State and Southwest Minnesota State with just four conference matches remaining. The win kept meant the Golden Bears kept pace with NSU and SMSU as the schools jockey for the regular season NSIC crown. Concordia continued their dominance over WSC over the past 13 years as they won their 28^th of 32 in the series since then.
 
The Golden Bears held an edge in nearly every aspect of the match as they out-hit the Wildcats .253-.188, had more kills at 62-53, more digs at 93-87, more blocks at 12.0-8.0 and service aces at 6-2.
 
Riley Hanson continued to be dominant with a season-best 19 kills with an impressive .529 hitting percentage to lead the way offensively for the Golden Bears. It was a historic night for Hanson as she became the 17th member of the 1,000 kill club at Concordia as her 19 kills brought her career mark to 1,004. She is the first Golden Bear to hit that mark since Kayla Koenecke hit it in 2013.
 
Not to be outdone, Heather Schiller had a huge match as well with a season-high 15 kills to go along with seven blocks as she continued to make her presence known at the net.
 
Anna Schlaak narrowly missed a double-double with nine kills as well as 18 digs while Emma Lange also chipped in nine kills.
 
Kasey Williams stayed hot for the Golden Bears as she put up another huge double-double with 54 assists and 18 digs as she provided a steadying presence from the setter position.
 
Taylor Dordan and Hope Schiller also contributed big performances in the back row as they each contributed 20 digs. The 20 digs represented a career-best for Hope Schiller.
 
Katie Hughes put up a huge double-double with 15 kills and 25 digs for the Wildcats while Alyssa Frauendorfer also added 15 kills for WSC.
 
After falling behind 7-4 early in the first set, the Golden Bears appeared to shift the momentum in their favor with an 8-3 run to build a 12-10 advantage. CSP continued to maintain a small lead for much of the rest of the set as they held the Wildcats at bay. They continued to hold that lead at 19-17 before Wayne State strung together a crucial run with six points in a row to regain the lead for the first time since the early going at 23-19. Concordia took a point back before WSC claimed the final two points to take a 1-0 lead in the match with a 25-20 set win.
 
The Wildcats built an early lead again in the second set as they took a 6-3 lead through the first nine points of the set. Concordia once again answered right back and erased that lead with seven of the next nine points to go up 10-8. This time, the Golden Bears shut down any chance of a comeback as they led the rest of the way. The lead hovered between two and four the rest of the set as two teams mostly traded points before CSP closed out the set 25-22 and evened the match at 1-1.
 
It was Concordia's turn to get off to the fast start in the third set as they grabbed six of the first eight points to build a comfortable advantage. After the Wildcats pulled back within one at 7-6, the Golden Bears extended their lead even further with five points in a row. CSP continued to push the lead from there as they eventually settled with decisive 25-14 win in the third to pull within a set of closing out the match.
 
The momentum carried over into the fourth set as the Golden Bears turned a 7-6 lead into 15-7 lead with an 8-1 run. Concordia seemed set to run away with as they still held an eight point advantage at 22-14, but Wayne State had different plans. An 8-2 run in favor of WSC closed the gap to two at 23-21 before the Golden Bears responded by claiming two of the final three points of the match to close out the win with at 25-22 set win.
 
Concordia will face another ranked opponent tomorrow afternoon as they travel to take on #20 Augustana at 4 p.m. before returning home for the final weekend of the regular season next weekend.