DENVER, Colo. – The fourth-ranked Concordia Golden Bears volleyball team (4-1) improved to 2-0 in the Colorado Premier Challenge as they picked up their second consecutive sweep with a win over Metro State of Denver (2-4) on Friday night.
 
Anna Schlaak put up another dominant performance as she finished with a match-high 20 kills with a .304 hitting percentage while grabbing eight digs in the win.
 
Emma Lange joined in the fun on both offense and defense as she hit an efficient .474 while collecting 10 kills to go along with five blocks. Lange once again partnered with Heather Schiller at the net as Schiller also finished with five blocks, giving her five straight matches with four or more blocks to begin the season.
 
Kasey Williams picked up her third double-double of the year with 41 assists and 12 digs while Taylor Dordan, Hope Schiller and Emily McDonough all finished in double digits in digs in a balanced team effort. Dordan finished with a match-best 16 digs while McDonough and Schiller finished with 12 and 11, respectively.
 
Concordia's defense was strong again as CSP held MSU Denver to .069 hitting as they allowed just 32 kills and forced 23 errors.
 
Michaela Smith led the Roadrunners with nine kills while Summer Greager and Ryan Hoerdeman each chipped in eight apiece.
 
The first set featured an even matchup as both teams jockeyed for a lead but neither was able to gain much of an advantage. The Golden Bears surged ahead first as they gained a three point lead at 9-6 and again at 12-9 but saw the momentum shift in the Roadrunners' favor with five in a row to make it 14-12 MSU Denver. Metro State clung to a small lead as late as 23-22 but CSP, as they did in the first match of the day, took control late by claiming the last three points to take the set 25-23.
 
The second set appeared to be the first set of the day in which Concordia was able to get some breathing room as they claimed the first four points and 10 of the first 13 to build a comfortable cushion early. The lead remained between four and seven for much of the rest of the set as CSP appeared primed to run away with the set. With the Golden Bears just four points away from closing it out at 21-14, the Roadrunners mounted a comeback with a 9-2 run to pull even at 23. With the score still tied at 24, Concordia once again closed out strong as they forced a pair of MSU Denver turnovers to win the second set 26-24 and head into the third set with a commanding 2-0 lead in the match.
 
After Metro State took a 5-3 lead, it was all Golden Bears in the third. CSP went on a 5-0 run to spark a dominant stretch to close out the set as they picked up 22 of the final 29 points to roll to a 25-12 set win to finish off the match. The stretch included a 7-1 run to end the set and give Concordia their second sweep of the day.
 
The Golden Bears will have a quick turnaround as they are set to play a highly anticipated match with #1 Tampa at 10:30 a.m. CT Saturday morning on the campus of MSU Denver in the Gold Bracket Semifinals. The winner will advance to the Gold Championship on ESPN3 at 8 p.m. CT while the loser will take part in the Gold 3^rd Place Game at 6 p.m. CT, also on ESPN3.