DENVER, Colo. – The fourth-ranked Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (3-1) got off to a strong start in the Colorado Premier Challenge as they handed Angelo State (6-1) their first loss in a sweep on Friday afternoon.
 
The Golden Bears stifled the Belles' attack as they limited them to just a .122 hitting percentage while collecting 9.0 total blocks in the match. The CSP offense, led by Riley Hanson's 13 kills and efficient .500 hitting percentage, hit .254 as a team in the win.
 
Hanson was joined by Anna Schlaak and Emily McDonough in double digits in kills as they finished the match with 12 and 10 kills, respectively. McDonough picked up her third double-double in four matched this season as she also collected 10 digs while Schlaak fell a dig short with nine digs.
 
Kasey Williams also grabbed her second double-double of the season as she put up 37 assists to go along with 11 digs.
 
On the defensive side, Heather Schiller and Emma Lange proved to be a dominant duo at the net as Schiller had seven blocks and Lange had six. Only once in the first four matches have either one of them failed to collect at least four blocks. Taylor Dordan also chipped in from the back row as she led CSP with 15 digs.
 
No Angelo State player finished in double figures in kills as Mallory Blauser led the way with nine kills.
 
The Golden Bears fell behind early in the first set as the Belles claimed six of the first nine points to build an early three point lead. Angelo State continued to hold that lead until the midway point in the set when CSP strung together four points in a row to take their first lead at 15-13. The Belles battled back to regain the lead at 19-18 several other points down the stretch, including 25-24, but Concordia showed some resilience and rallied to grab the last three points to take a 1-0 lead with a 27-25 set win.
 
The two teams went back and forth through the first handful of points in the second set until the Belles took control with an extended 8-0 run to build a 14-8 advantage. The lead quickly disappeared as CSP responded with the next five points en route to eventually regaining the lead at 21-20. The Golden Bears finished the set strong as they scored six of the final seven points to claim a 25-21 set win and 2-0 lead in the match.
 
Concordia was forced to play from behind again in the third set as the Belles grabbed a 6-3 lead in the early going, but CSP didn't need another late comeback as they went ahead in the middle of the set. The Golden Bears took the lead for good at 11-10 and slowly grew their advantage the rest of the way before settling with a 25-19 final in the third set to complete the sweep.
 
CSP returns to the court later tonight as they are set to take on Metro State at 8 p.m. The match will be streamed live at the link listed above.