ST. PAUL, Minn. – For the 10^th time in program history, top-seeded #1 Concordia-St. Paul (32-2) claims the NCAA Central Region title with a sweep of second-seeded #3 Southwest Minnesota State (28-6) on Saturday night at Gangelhoff Center (25-23, 25-12, 25-21). The Golden Bears punch their ticket to the ticket to the Elite Eight at Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota next Thursday, December 8 as they pursue their eighth NCAA Championship in the last 10 years.
 
Concordia will be making their 10^th trip to the Elite Eight in 14 seasons under head coach Brady Starkey as they improved their mark to 58-6 in the NCAA Tournament all-time. Amazingly, this marks the sixth time the team has claimed the region crown on their home court as their NCAA tournament record at Gangelhoff Center moved to 28-3.
 
The Golden Bears will find out their opponent in the Elite Eight on Monday, December 5 at 9 a.m. when, for the first time in the history of the tournament, the national committee will select and announce the seeding of the eight advancing teams. The final three rounds of the NCAA Tournament will take place at Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota with quarterfinal action beginning on Thursday and wrapping up with the national championship match on Saturday.
 
 
Senior libero Emily McDonough said of returning to the Elite Eight, "It's the best feeling in the world (to be going back to the Elite Eight). We've worked this hard all season just to get to this point."
 
Senior outside hitter Anna Schlaak added, "I think it's awesome to be able to play in our conference week in and week out so we're well-prepared by the time we reach the region tournament."
 
Head coach Brady Starkey, commenting on the NSIC, said, "As a coach, you couldn't be more proud of what you have to face on a night to night basis. The coaching staffs, the players, the class of the whole region, it's filled with a lot of quality people."


 
Concordia was well represented in the NCAA Central Region All-Tournament Team as Riley Hanson, Emily McDonough, Kasey Williams and Emma Lange were all named to the team. SMSU and Augustana each had three representatives as Eisha Oden, Taylor Reiss and Megan Larson were picked for the Mustangs while Anna Sykora, Tahlyr Banks and Lauren Waite were picked for the Vikings. Taylor Goar and Danielle from Winona State rounded out the team.
 
It was an impressive night for CSP as they held an edge in nearly every statistical category on the night. The Golden Bears hit a robust .342, including a solid .500 in the third set, while they limited the Mustangs to .140. Concordia also edged SMSU 50-30 in kills, 55-39 in digs, 6.0-0.0 in total blocks and 8-5 in service aces in the winning effort.
 
"I'm really proud of our girls. I thought they really came to compete and fight tonight," said Starkey of his team's performance. He went on to add, "Our girls did a great job of putting pressure on them and making them uncomfortable in serve receive pretty much the whole night and I felt that was the difference in the match."
 
Kasey Williams got all of the hitters involved on the night as three different players picked up between 11 and 15 kills while all five of the other starters hit at least .250 on the night. Williams finished with 42 assists, eight digs and a pair of service aces.
 
Emma Lange paced the squad with a match-high 15 kills to go along with a .433 hitting percentage while she added three blocks. Mariya Sampson wasn't far behind with 13 kills and five digs while hitting .355.
 
Anna Schlaak rounded out the group with 11 kills, but she made her biggest mark by leading all players with 18 digs for the double-double. Schlaak, along with Emily McDonough's 12 digs, played major roles in the dominant back row performance.
 
While it didn't show up much in the stat sheet, Hope Schiller played a key role in CSP's tough serving as she registered three aces and consistently had the Mustangs off-balanced with her serving. She also added five digs.
 
Taylor Reiss led the way for the Mustangs with 11 kills, but was held to a .119 hitting percentage, while Eisha Oden added 10 kills of her own.
 
Things did not get off to the best start for Concordia as six of the first seven points went in favor of the Mustangs, but the Golden Bears quickly righted the ship. CSP rattled off a 7-0 run to turn an 11-6 deficit into a 13-11 lead. The Golden Bears wouldn't trail again the rest of the set as they held onto a small lead pretty much throughout. Their advantage grew to as large as five at 22-18 before the Mustangs put the pressure on with four straight to cut it to one. SMSU eventually managed to pull even at 23-23, but CSP regained control and took the final two points to win the set 25-23.
 
After an even start to the second set saw the Golden Bears hold a slight 6-5 lead, CSP took over and built a comfortable lead. Four in a row pushed their lead to five and it continued to grow from there. The Mustangs managed to remain within five at 16-11, but were held to just one point the rest of the set as Concordia cruised to win the set 25-12.
 
The two teams traded points again to begin the third set as the two teams split the first 16 points before the Mustangs went ahead 10-8, but it wouldn't last as CSP got it going again. Concordia scored the next six points and 11 of the next 13 points to build their largest lead of the set at 19-12. The lead was still seven at 24-17 with the Golden Bears a point shy of closing out the match, but Southwest Minnesota State wouldn't go quietly as they scored four straight to force a timeout. CSP wasted little time slamming the door after the timeout as Emma Lange put away a quick kill to send the crowd and the bench into a frenzy as she closed out the NCAA Central Region Tournament with a win for the Golden Bears.
 
Check back to cspbears.com on Monday to find out who the Golden Bears will face on Thursday at Sanford Pentagon in the Elite Eight.