ST. PAUL, Minn. - Top-ranked Concordia-St. Paul (26-2, 18-2 NSIC) hit a school record .591 in a three set sweep of Bemidji State (7-22, 3-17 NSIC) on Saturday evening at Gangelhoff Center. The win in the season finale clinched the program's 13th NSIC regular season championship in the last 14 years dating back to head coach Brady Starkey's first year in 2003.

The Golden Bears, co-champions with Southwest Minnesota State, have earned the top seed in the NSIC Tournament due to league tie-breaking criteria and will host eighth seeded Minnesota State (16-12, 10-10 NSIC) on Wednesday, November 16 at 7 p.m. at Gangelhoff Center in the NSIC Tournament quarterfinals. The first round matchup with MSU is the third year in a row the teams will meet in the conference tournament's quarterfinals, with CSP taking the last two matches.

The top seed to advance past the quarterfinal round will host the NSIC Tournament semifinal round on Saturday, November 19 with the NSIC Championship on Sunday, November 20.

The win for Concordia extends its winning streak to 10 matches, the second longest winning streak of the season after opening the year 13-0 and propels the program to a 14th consecutive season with at least 25 overall wins. The Golden Bears have won at least 18 matches in league play nine years in a row and have lost two matches or less in 14 straight NSIC campaigns.

The Golden Bears used a record-setting offensive afternoon to improve to 31-8-1 in 40 all-time meetings with BSU, winning 29 in a row in the series. Concordia had at least 17 kills in each set, recording 20 in the first and 21 in the second and hit at least .500 in each set with a match-high .690 in the second (21-1-29). The Golden Bears terminated 58 kills with just six errors in 88 swings in the match.

Senior setter Kasey Williams paced the offense with 41 assists while sophomore Elizabeth Mohr added eight and libero Emily McDonough chipped in four. The offense featured four players with double-digit kills and another with eight. McDonough led the defense with 13 digs while Williams was a dig shy of a double-double with nine.

Just a night after starting the match 6-for-6 in kills, senior Riley Hanson hit a blistering .800 with 12 kills in 15 error-free attacks. The newest member of the 1,000/1,000 club, senior Anna Schlaak had a double-double with 10 kills and 10 digs. Schlaak hit .643 (10-1-14) in the match.

Freshman Sara Macek also stood out, as the rookie middle from Monticello put down eight kills in nine swings to hit .778 for the match.

Hanson's 12 kills were matched by junior Mariya Sampson, who hit .550 for the contest with senior Emma Lange adding 11 kills in the same number of attempts (20) for a .500 hitting line.

The entire match featured just two ties and one lead change, all coming in the opening points of the first set. BSU scored first off the opening serve and also held a 2-1 lead before a five-point swing to Concordia put the Golden Bears ahead for good.

Armed with the top seed in the conference tournament, top billing in the first two NCAA Central Region rankings and the number distinction in all of Division II, the Golden Bears aim to protect home court in the conference tournament, looking to solidify home court for the regionals which will be held December 1, 2 and 3 with pairings, times and site information announced following the NSIC Tournament. The league's tournament champion will earn an automatic bid to the regional, with five at-large bids available between the NSIC, MIAA and GAC conferences.