ST. CLOUD, Minn. – The top-ranked Concordia Golden Bears volleyball team (24-2, 16-2 NSIC) improved to 13-0 away from home as they swept St. Cloud State (8-19, 3-15 NSIC) on Saturday afternoon.
 
The sweep gives CSP three-set wins in 21 of 25 meetings with the Huskies as they improved their record to 24-1 against St. Cloud State in the all-time series. The win also gives Concordia eight wins in a row overall heading into the final regular season weekend. Away from Gangelhoff Center this year, the Golden Bears have dropped just six sets in 13 contests as they close out the regular season unbeaten on the road.
 
As a team, Concordia put together a solid offensive effort as they collected 53 kills with just eight hitting errors to finish with an impressive .409 hitting percentage on the night. CSP hit .444 and .474 in the two opening sets, respectively, before hitting .306 in the third. The defense held SCSU to a .232 hitting percentage on the night as they finished with 40 kills.
 
Highlighting the efficient afternoon was freshman Sara Macek as she fell just a kill shy of her career high with 15 as she hit an incredible .778 in the win. Macek put down kills in all but three of her 18 attempts as just one went for an error. Her hitting percentage would tie for fourth best in program history if it reached the minimum threshold of 20 attempts.
 
She wasn't the only Golden Bear to put up a nice night as Emma Lange and Anna Schlaak each collected 10 kills with hitting percentages of .375 or better. Schlaak also added 10 digs for the double-double as she moved within four digs of becoming just the fifth member of the 1,000 kill/1,000 dig club at Concordia.
 
Emily McDonough continued her dominant season from the libero spot as she led everyone with 16 digs while Kasey Williams assisted the offense with 39 assists.
 
Nicole Miller paced the Huskies with 11 kills while Marissa Kline added a double-double with 30 assists and a team-leading 10 digs in the loss.
 
The Huskies put Concordia in an early hole in the opening set as they took seven of the first 10 points to build a quick four point lead. That lead wouldn't last, however, as CSP tied it up at 9-9 and matched points with SCSU until a 5-0 turned a 14-13 Husky lead into an 18-14 lead for the Golden Bears. Concordia didn't look back from there as they held a lead of two or more the rest of the way and closed out the set on a 4-0 run to win it 25-18.
 
The Golden Bears picked up where they left off to begin the second set as they claimed the first eight points to set the tone for the set. The Huskies managed to shrink the gap back down to two at 10-8, but CSP turned the tide back in their favor as they pushed it back to seven at 17-10 following a 7-2 run. St. Cloud State once again chipped away and cut the Concordia lead to two at 22-20 before a strong finish gave CSP a 25-21 set win in the second set.
 
An early 5-0 run in the third gave Concordia control in the third set as they turned a 3-2 deficit into a 7-3 lead as the advantage proved to be enough as CSP remained out front the rest of the way. SCSU got as close as one at 13-12 and again at 14-13 but they were unable to get over the hump as the Golden Bears rattled off four straight to push it to five at 18-13. CSP continued to add to the lead from there as they cruised to a 25-17 set win in the third to extend the winning streak to eight.
 
The Golden Bears will look to claim their 13^th NSIC regular season title next weekend as they return home to host Minnesota Crookston on Friday and Bemidji State on Saturday.