ST. PAUL, Minn. – The second-ranked Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (2-1) closed out the weekend on a high note in the Holiday Inn and Suites Lake Elmo Volleyball Clash with a four-set win over Winona State (2-1) on Saturday afternoon.
 
Anna Schlaak was the story of the match as she matched the program record for most kills in a match with 34 as she hit an impressive .518 in the match. Her mark of 34 matched Emily Palkert's record set back in 2007 and shattered the four-set record of 26 held by three different players. Her previous career high in kills was 25.
 
Schlaak was consistently dominant as she hit .477 or better with at least six kills in each set to lead the Golden Bears to victory.


CU Volleyball vs. Winona State 9.5.2015 - Images by Justin Oakman
 
Schlaak wasn't the only Golden Bear to shine as Emily McDonough put up her best effort since returning from injury as she picked up her second double-double with 16 kills and 11 digs while also chipping in four assists and three service aces.
 
Taylor Dordan also had a career day as she set a new career best with 28 digs. Her previous best came back in 2012 when she picked up 27 against SMSU. That mark tied for 11^th best in a four set match in CSP history.
 
Kasey Williams guided the offense to an efficient .325 hitting percentage as she fell a dig short of a double-double with 55 assists and nine digs.
 
Freshman Hope Schiller also made a strong impression in the back row as she collected double digit digs for the first time in her career with 10.
 
Taylor Goar led the Warrior attack with 16 kills as she also led the way with 14 digs to finish with the double-double while Danielle Rampart also chipped in with a double-double as well.
 
The Warriors also received a strong effort from McKenna Larson as she put up 40 assists, 12 digs and six assists.
 
After falling behind early in the first set, CSP went even with WSU for much of the first set as neither team was able to build a comfortable advantage. The Warriors led as late as 21-20 but Concordia used a 3-0 run to gain the lead for good en route to closing out the first set 25-23.
 
The Golden Bears got things going quicker in the second set as they grabbed five of the first six points to build an early lead. That lead was erased as Winona State battled back to take a 10-9 lead but CSP took the lead back with a 5-0 run soon after to make it 18-13. The Warriors scored four straight to cut it to one but a CSP timeout stemmed the tide as Concordia-St. Paul pulled away for a 25-21 set win to go up 2-0 in the match.
 
Winona State bounced back in the third set to run out to an 8-1 lead but saw it disappear as Concordia came back with eight of the next nine to even it up. The lead didn't reach higher than three for the rest of the set as WSU eventually settled with a 25-23 set win to extend the match to a fourth set.
 
As was the case in the first and third sets, the Warriors got off to a strong start in the fourth as they delivered five of six points to open the set. Anna Schlaak then delivered one of her most impressive sequences of the match with four kills in the next six points, including three in a row, to give the Golden Bears the lead and force a WSU timeout. Winona State wouldn't lead again until 14-13 before Concordia took the lead for good with four straight to make it 17-14 in their favor. The Warriors got back within one at 22-21 but were unable to get over the hump as Concordia closed out the match by taking the fourth set 25-21.
 
Concordia-St. Paul returns to the court next weekend as they travel to Denver for the Colorado Premier Challenge. They take on Angelo State and Metro State on Friday before playing two more matches to close out the non-conference season on Saturday. CSP returns home to open up NSIC play on Sept. 17^th as they host Upper Iowa.