ST. PAUL, Minn. – The top-seeded #1 Concordia Golden Bears volleyball team (31-2) advances to the 2016 NCAA Central Region Championship with a four-set win over fifth-seeded #6 Winona State (27-6) on Friday night at Gangelhoff Center. The Golden Bears will face second-seeded #3 Southwest Minnesota State (28-5) for the region title tomorrow night at 7 p.m.
 
The win moves Concordia's record to 57-6 in the NCAA Tournament as they improve to 27-3 in their home court in tournament play. CSP advances to the NCAA Region Championship for the 13^th time in 14 years under head coach Brady Starkey with a chance to claim the region title for the 10^th time during that span and sixth time at Gangelhoff Center.
 
In tomorrow night's contest between the top two teams in the region, the Golden Bears meet a familiar foe as they face off against Southwest Minnesota State for the 59^th time in series history. CSP enters the meeting with a record of 32-23-1 in those previous matchups. The two schools meet for the second time in a title match in the last few weeks as they met in the NSIC Tournament Championship back on Nov. 20 as the Golden Bears picked up a sweep. The last time the two schools met in the NCAA Tournament back in 2014, the Mustangs snapped CSP's 43-match winning streak in the tournament to end their string of seven consecutive national titles.

The CSP/SMSU match has a 7 p.m. start time and the winner advances to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight at Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota on Thursday, December 8.
 
"I think tomorrow will be a lot of the same," said head coach Brady Starkey of the matchup with SMSU. He added, "Whoever passes best is probably going to win the match. They are a tough, explosive team and if you let them be in system all night you're going to have a difficult time defending them."


 
Tonight's match featured some dramatic swings of momentum as CSP rolled to win the first two sets before the Warriors stormed back to take the third and nearly steal the fourth to force a decisive fifth set. The action on the court was amplified by the crowd as large fan sections from both teams were loud from start to finish.
 
Senior middle blocker Riley Hanson said of the environment, "It's so fun (to play in front of a big crowd). It's amazing to hear this place get as loud as it can."
 
 
CSP thoroughly dominated the first two sets as they hit at least .273 in both and held WSU to .073 or worse in both before the Warriors offense came alive to finish the match at .166. The Golden Bears finished the night at .268 while they also held edges of 77-69 in digs, 10.0-6.0 in blocks and 8-5 in service aces in the win.
 
In addition to the team's success, it was a memorable night for Emma Lange as her first kill of the night put her at 1,000 kills in her career, making her the 18^th player in program history to reach the mark. Lange finished the night with 12 kills, five digs and four blocks as she hit .310 in the win.
 
The duo of Anna Schlaak and Riley Hanson was impressive offensively for the Golden Bears as Schlaak carried a heavy load with a match-high 18 kills on 54 swings to go along with 11 digs for the double-double while Hanson was extremely efficient with 16 kills on just 26 swings for a hitting percentage of .577. Hanson really came to life in the third and fourth sets as she picked up 12 of her 16 kills in the final two sets.
 
Kasey Williams once again guided the offense in a solid performance as she picked up the double-double with 63 assists and 11 digs. Emily McDonough and Anna Pioske were tremendous in the back row as McDonough collected 20 digs and Pioske had 18.
 
Danielle Rampart and Taylor Goar both hit double figures as Rampart had 13 kills and Goar had 10. McKenna Larsen added 38 assists, nine digs and five kills while Jamie Cairncross closed out her career with 16 digs and six assists.
 
After the two teams split the first four points in the opening set, Concordia took control as they grabbed nine of the next 11 points to build an 11-4 advantage. The lead reached nine at 15-6 before a 7-2 run in favor of the Warriors pulled it back to within four, but that was all the closer they would get. The Golden Bears regained their momentum as they closed it out 25-16 to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
 
Concordia's momentum carried into the second set as they ran out to a 6-1 lead as they led from start to finish in the set. Winona State battled back to within two at 9-7 and remained within three at 11-8, but it was all Golden Bears from there. The next seven points and 14 of the final 17 point were scored by CSP to win the set 25-11.
 
The Warriors turned the tables in the third set as it was their turn to get off to a fast start with six of the first seven points, but the Golden Bears came back with a run of their own to build an 8-6 edge. WSU jumped back out front at 10-9 and pushed their lead to four at 17-13 before another CSP burst, this time a 6-1 stretch put the Golden Bears ahead 19-18. Concordia remained ahead by one at 20-19, but the Warriors took over down the stretch to stay alive and win the set 25-21.
 
The Warriors once again came out firing in the fourth as they jumped out to a 6-3 lead, but Concordia was there again to even it up at 8-8. WSU took the next three points and held their three point advantage at 14-11 before a crucial 6-1 run put CSP ahead for the first time in the set. From there, the lead went back and forth in a tense exchange with the Warriors leading as late as 22-21, but the Golden Bears came through in crunch time to win the set 25-22 and take the match in four.