Volleyball | 10.5.16
ST. PAUL, Minn. - The #2 Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (14-1, 6-1 NSIC) hits the road for a big weekend against a pair of top-10 opponents as they take on #6 Augustana (16-1, 7-0 NSIC) on Friday and #8 Wayne State (14-2, 5-2 NSIC) on Saturday.
THE MATCHUPS
On Friday, the Golden Bears take on Augustana for the 23rd time in the all-time series, with Concordia holding a record of 21-1 heading into the matchup. After the Vikings won the first meeting back in 1988, the Golden Bears have rattled off 21 straight wins over Augie since joining the NSIC. CSP has dominated in NSIC matches between the two teams, going 12-0 in those meetings, while also winning all eight meetings in Sioux Falls.
The two teams met twice last season with CSP eeking out a pair of five-set wins. In the late season meeting in Sioux Falls,
Riley Hanson carried the load in the win. One night after becoming the 17th member of the 1,000 kill club at Concordia,
Riley Hanson put up another record-breaking performance as she set a new career high with 24 kills as she hit an even .500 for the match. In addition to her offensive output, Hanson also came within a block of her career high as she finished with match-best eight blocks. As a team, the team efficiency was strongly in favor of the Golden Bears as they hit .344 while the Vikings hit .213. They also held a strong advantage at the net with 15.0 blocks compared to 6.0 for Augie.
Concordia's trip to Wayne State marks the 42nd meeting between the two programs with the Golden Bears sitting at 29-12 in the previous 41 meetings. CSP's best stretch in the series came from 2003-2009 as they won 19 in a row during that span. Since then, Concordia has gone 9-5 against WSC. In 15 trips to Wayne, the Golden Bears have picked up 12 wins.
After CSP won both regular season meetings in four sets, the Wildcats ended Concordia's season in the NCAA Central Region Championship with a sweep. The Wildcats advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight for the first time in program history as they handed the Golden Bears just their sixth loss in 61 tournament matches. A team that has historically been known for their strong defense, Wayne State hit an efficient .414 on the night as they racked up 49 kills and committed just six hitting errors in what was a prolific offensive night. WSC also kept the Golden Bears out of system with a strong serving game as they had eight aces compared to three for Concordia. Their defense was also strong as they limited CSP to .224 hitting and forced 12 hitting errors.
LAST TIME OUT
The Golden Bears saw their third longest win streak to start a season snapped at 13 in a five-setter against Minnesota Duluth on Friday before picking up their 12th sweep of the year against St. Cloud State on Saturday.
Concordia led in most statistical categories in both matches with edges of .312-.108 in hitting, 108-76 in kills, 10-5 in service aces, 22.0-7.0 in blocks and 104-89 in digs. CSP also had five different players average 2.40 kills per set or more and eight different players average 1.00 kills per set or more.
Anna Schlaak led the team with 31 kills (3.88 per) while adding 23 digs (2.88 per set) and a .324 hitting percentage and
Emily McDonough led the team in digs both matches for a total of 39 (4.88 per set), making it 14 out of 15 matches in double figures on the season.
POLL POSITION
Concordia dropped out of the top spot in the latest AVCA Poll after retaining the #1 ranking for the fifth consecutive week to begin the season. With five weeks in the top spot to begin the year, the Golden Bears have now spent an incredible 70 weeks at #1 since they debuted there in the 2003 preseason poll. Since the 2007 season, CSP has ranked #1 at least once every season.
NATIONAL LEADERS
Heading into this week, Concordia has a pair of players that rank second in the country in statistical categories while the team ranks first in three categories.
Riley Hanson sits in second in hitting percentage with an efficient mark of .464 as she sits .012 percentage points behind the national leader.
Kasey Williams also ranks second in assists per set at 12.40, trailing only SMSU's Megan Larson in the category.
The team also leads the nation with 14.20 assists per set and 15.14 kills per set while their team hitting percentage of .330 also sits in the top spot.
PERFECT START
Concordia had their perfect 13-0 start for the third time in program history snapped last weekend. The start surpassed the team's 11-game winnng streak back in 2007, the year the team won their first national title, as they went on to finish 36-4 that season. The only other seasons they had a better start were in 2011 when they won their first 22 matches before finishing 34-2 as national champions and in 2009 as they went a perfect 37-0 to win the title.
