DENVER, Colo. – The top-ranked Concordia Golden Bears volleyball team (8-0) won the Colorado Premier Challenge for the fifth time since 2008 with a four-set win over #5 Southwest Minnesota State (6-2) on Saturday night. CSP bounced back after dropping the second set to win the third and fourth to close out the win.
 
The win gives the Golden Bears their first Premier Challenge title since 2013 as their four previous wins came in 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2013. In addition, despite dropping their first set of the season after winning the first 22, Concordia improved to 5-0 against opponents ranked in the top-10 so far this season with all but two of their wins coming against ranked opponents.
 
In the all-time series with the Mustangs, CSP improves to 31-22-1 with six wins in the last seven meetings and 31 in 35 meetings since 2002. The match was also the first between the two schools in the Colorado Premier Challenge.
 
The Mustangs gave the Golden Bears a battle, but the Concordia offense proved to be too much as they hit .308 with 65 kills on 156 swings as a team in the win. SMSU managed the best hitting percentage against CSP on the season at .219 but the Golden Bears also won the serving battle (seven aces to four) as well as the digs battle (73-60) and the blocking battle (10.0-7.0).
 
Kasey Williams spread the ball around nearly evenly as her season-high 57 assists led to all five starters finishing between 11 and 15 kills. Williams also added 18 digs for a massive double-double.
 
Anna Pioske joined Williams with a double-double of her own with 11 kills and 11 digs while Emily McDonough led all players with 22 digs and Hope Schiller chipped in 11 digs as well.
 
Emma Lange paced the Golden Bears with 15 kills while CSP's two middles each hit .500 or better in the match in the balance effort. Riley Hanson finished with 13 kills and four blocks while hitting .545 and Sara Macek hit an even .500 with 12 kills as Concordia continued to get extremely efficient hitting from the middle of the court. Anna Schlaak also finished with 13 kills as her nine digs put her a dig shy of another double-double.
 
Sarah Parker and Taylor Reiss contributed 15 and 14 kills, respectively, while libero Amber Messner led the Mustangs with 16 digs in the loss.
 
After the two teams traded points early in the first set, Concordia pushed it in their favor with six of eight points to build a 12-7 lead. The Mustangs managed to shrink the gap back down to three on a few different occasions, including as late as 18-15, but the Golden Bears closed it out with a 7-1 run to win the set 25-16.
 
The Mustangs bounced back early in the second set as they were the first to ten, building a 10-6 advantage over CSP. The Golden Bears turned it around as they pulled even at 14-14 and forced a SMSU timeout, but they were unable to keep it going to build an advantage. After a few more ties Concordia briefly took a 20-19 lead but saw it erased as Southwest Minnesota State regained their advantage to take the second by a score of 25-23.
 
The third set featured twists and turns throughout as it featured an incredible 13 ties and seven lead changes. The largest lead on either side was three as both squads held one three point advantage as the difference sat between two or less the rest of the set. Concordia got off to a fast start as they took a 6-3 but quickly saw it erased as the lead went back and forth. After the Golden Bears took a 17-16 lead, seven of the next 10 points were taken by SMSU to pull them within two points of taking the set at 23-20. After a CSP timeout, the Golden Bears regrouped in dramatic fashion as they grabbed the final five points to take the set 25-23 and regain their lead in the match at two sets to one.
 
The tough end to the third set seemed to knock the wind out of the Mustangs' sails as Concordia quickly jumped ahead by four points at 6-2 in the fourth. The CSP lead hit seven at 15-8 and eventually grew to as many as nine at the final margin of 25-16.
 
Concordia kicks off NSIC play next weekend as they travel to Upper Iowa on Thursday before hosting #13 Winona State in the conference home opener on Saturday.