ST. PAUL, Minn. – For the fifth time in program history, the top-seeded #1 Concordia Golden Bears volleyball team (29-2) are the NSIC Tournament Champions after sweeping second-seeded #4 Southwest Minnesota State (26-5) on Sunday afternoon at Gangelhoff Center.
 
The Golden Bears made it back-to-back seasons in which they claimed both the NSIC regular season and tournament titles after going nine seasons without a tourney title. In addition to last season's crown, CSP also collected tournament championships three straight seasons from 2004-06.
 
CSP's win clinches an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament, set to begin on Dec. 1^st. The Golden Bears, who were ranked first in all three of the Region Rankings over the past three weeks, will now wait until tomorrow evening to find out who will join them in the region tournament and if they will host for the second year in a row. The NCAA Selection Show will air tomorrow night at 6:30 p.m. on NCAA.com.


 
Concordia had three players named to the NSIC All-Tournament Team as Emma Lange, Emily McDonough and Kasey Williams all earned the honor. Emma Lange was a repeat selection from last season as Williams and McDonough each took home the award for the first times in their careers. SMSU's Megan Larson and Taylor Reiss were also selected while WSU's McKenna Larsen rounded out the six-player team.
 
The win also snapped a two-game postseason losing streak against the Mustangs (2012 NSIC Championship and 2014 NCAA Central Region semifinals) as CSP improved to 6-2 in the DII-era in postseason play against SMSU. Overall, the Golden Bears move to 32-23-1 against Southwest Minnesota State.
 
 
Despite the sweep, the match was actually much closer than that as Concordia held a slight edge of .243-.197 in hitting percentage while also narrowly leading with 50-42 in kills and 64-58 in digs. The match featured 27 ties and 11 lead changes in what were three close set wins in favor of CSP.
 
Emma Lange wrapped up a strong tournament performance as she led all players with 17 kills while hitting .400 in the win. Lange's effort today coupled with her record-setting .750 hitting percentage in the quarterfinals capped strong week that earned her a spot on the All-Tournament Team.
 
Kasey Williams was solid in guiding the offense as the setter picked up 43 assists (14.33 per set) to go along with six digs to close out the title. Williams averaged 13.22 assists and 3.67 digs per set for tournament.
 
Emily McDonough also finished off a tremendous individual tournament as her 26 digs were the fifth-most in program history in a three-set match after putting up the fourth-most yesterday. McDonough picked up a staggering 71 digs (7.89 per set) in CSP's three tournament wins.
 
Riley Hanson and Anna Schlaak also chipped in solid performances in the win as both picked up 10 kills in the win.
 
Taylor Reiss' 16 kills and 12 digs led the way for SMSU while Megan Larson also double-doubled with 37 assists and 14 digs as both were named to the All-Tournament Team. Kaylee Burmeister also double-doubled with 13 kills and 12 digs in the loss.
 
Both teams came out strong in the opening set as the teams traded points for much of the early going. The Mustangs started to build a bit of a cushion at 7-4 and again at 9-6, but Concordia battled back to even it up at 13-13. The next ten points were split right down the middle as the score remained tied at 18-18 before two points in a row gave CSP their first multi-point lead of the set as they forced an SMSU timeout. It would be a lead that the Golden Bears would hold onto as they finished off the set by taking five of the final eight points to win it 25-21.
 
The second set was another tight one as neither team held a lead larger than three the entire set. CSP hit that three point advantage at 9-6 and remained ahead by that margin at 11-8, but the Mustangs quickly pulled back even at 13-13. After the two teams traded the next few points, SMSU took the lead and surged ahead 21-18 following a 3-0 run as they looked to even the match up at 1-1. That lead would be short-lived, however, as Concordia responded with six of the next seven points to force set point at 24-22. Southwest Minnesota State managed to survive three set points, but it wasn't enough as Concordia held on to take the set 27-25.
 
The Mustangs got off to a solid start in the third set as they ran out to a 7-2 lead, but the Golden Bears once again battled back. Five of the next six went in favor of Concordia to cut it to one before they evened it up at 11-11 a few points later. CSP took the lead for good at 14-13 as they maintained a slight lead before pulling away late in the win. With the lead still at two at 21-19, the Golden Bears rattled off four straight to finish off the sweep and clinch the title.