ST. PAUL, Minn. – The top-seeded #1 Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (27-2) advances to the NSIC Tournament semifinals following a sweep of Minnesota State (16-13) at Gangelhoff Center on Wednesday night.
 
Concordia will continue action in the tournament against fifth-seeded #6 Winona State on Saturday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. for a spot in the NSIC Championship match on Sunday at 2 p.m. in St. Paul.
 
For the third year in a row, the Golden Bears have handed the Mavericks a first round exit in the tournament as they improved to a perfect 9-0 in NSIC opening round matches. The win moved CSP to 19-4 all-time in the conference tourney in their attempt for their fifth NSIC title in nine tries.
 
With the win, Concordia continued their dominance over MSU with 26 wins in the past 28 meetings, including nine in a row against the Mavericks, to move to 26-4 In 30 all-time matches. The Golden Bears also move to 13-0 in the series in St. Paul.
 
The Golden Bear defense was stifling as they held the Mavericks to just .028 hitting in the match with 9.0 total blocks on the night. The offense wasn't far behind with an impressive mark of .365 hitting with 42 kills on 96 swings. CSP also held an edge of 52-42 in the digs as well as a 4-2 edge in service aces in an all-around effort.
 
Emma Lange was especially impressive with a team-leading 12 kills on 16 swings without an error to finish with a hitting percentage of .750 on the night. Lange's .750 hitting percentage also represented an NSIC Tournament record, surpassing her own mark of .679 from last year. Riley Hanson wasn't far behind as she picked up nine kills with a .562 hitting percentage to go along with nine blocks (one solo and eight block assists) in a dominant performance.
 
Kasey Williams picked up another double-double while guiding the offense with 34 assists and chipping in 10 digs on the night. Emily McDonough led the way in the dig column with 18 digs as she continued her streak of hitting double figures in all but one match this season.
 
In what was a tough night for the Mavericks, Krista Hassing provided a solid performance as she matched Lange with 12 kills on the night. Maddie Keute also added 16 digs for the Mavericks.
 
Concordia set the tone from the start by claiming seven of the first eight and 13 of the first 16 points to quickly build a double-digit advantage in the opening set. The lead wouldn't shrink below seven the rest of the set as CSP held off the Mavericks and cruised to the win. Minnesota State pulled within seven at 17-10, but an 8-2 run for CSP gave the Golden Bears a 1-0 lead with a 25-12 set win.
 
The Mavericks turned the momentum in their favor early in the second set with a 6-3 run to begin play and held an edge until the midway point, but Concordia came on strong late to regain control. MSU's lead sat at two at 13-11 before CSP rattled off 10 of 11 to push their lead to 21-14. The Golden Bears didn't let up from there as they cruised to win the set 25-17.
 
After a quick 4-1 start for CSP in the third, things evened out a bit as MSU pulled even at 7-7. The score remained tied at 9-9 before a big 7-0 run for the Golden Bears shifted it firmly in their favor. The Mustangs claimed the next point but were unable stem the tide as Concordia took the next three points and nine of the final 10 points to win the set 25-11 and win the set in straight sets.