ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (7-3, 2-1 NSIC) put together a strong performance as they swept Minnesota State (8-3, 2-1 NSIC) on Tuesday night at the Gangelhoff Center.
CSP controlled every aspect of the match as they led MSU in hitting percentage (.228-.165), kills (39-35), assists (37-33), total blocks (8.0-5.0) and service aces (7-3) while committing less service errors (3-9) and blocking errors (3-4).
In what was a quiet individual statistic night,
Anna Schlaak paced the Golden Bears with 13 kills while also chipping in eight digs.
Emma Lange contributed eight kills as well while
Riley Hanson and
Mariya Sampson added six kills apiece.
Hope Schiller led the way in the back row for Concordia with 10 digs while
Kasey Williams finished with a match-best 35 assists.
Krista Hassing was a bright spot for MSU as she hit .357 with a match-high 14 kills and Haley Fogarty put up 11 digs.
The Mavericks came out with some energy as they ran out to a 6-2 lead in the first set, but the Golden Bears quickly fought back to take the lead. CSP answered with an extended 13-3 run to build a comfortable lead at 15-9 as MSU was unable to pull closer than three points the rest of the way. Concordia saw their lead grow as large as eight at 19-11 and again at 20-12 before Minnesota State closed the gap back to three at 22-19. That would be all the Mavericks were able to muster as CSP responded with three straight points to claim a 25-19 set win.
It was Minnesota State who took the early lead again in the second as they grabbed six of the first nine points, but once again that lead was erased. Concordia pulled even at nine before the two teams spent much of the middle of the set trading points. The Golden Bears used a 4-0 run to turn a 21-19 deficit into a 23-21 lead and rode the wave to a 25-23 win in the second to head into the break with a 2-0 advantage in the match.
The third set was all Golden Bears from the start as CSP followed an MSU point to open the set with seven straight points of their own to force a Minnesota State timeout. Concordia continued to add to their lead as they eventually stretched it to 10 at 15-5. The Mavericks strung together four straight points to trim their deficit to six, but it wasn't enough as CSP shut down any chance of a comeback with six points in a row. MSU battled to the end but the Golden Bears closed out the match by winning the third set 25-16.
This weekend, Concordia hits the road as they take on #2 Southwest Minnesota State on Friday night and Sioux Falls on Saturday afternoon.
