FAYETTE, Iowa – The #1 Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (9-0, 1-0 NSIC) opened up NSIC play with a sweep of Upper Iowa (5-4, 0-1 NSIC) on Thursday night. The Golden Bears won the first set 25-19 before taking the second 25-10 and the third 25-17.
 
The win continued Concordia's best start since they started off 22-0 back in 2011 as they also remained unbeaten in 16 contests all-time against the Peacocks. Only three times in program history before this season have the Golden Bears started off 9-0.
 
The Golden Bears dominated at the net as they picked up 10.0 blocks and forced 20 attack errors to hold Upper Iowa to just .072 hitting on the night. On offense, CSP also delivered to a tune of .305 hitting while collecting 43 kills to go along with four service aces in the win. They showed continued consistency as they hit between .296 and .310 in the three sets as the offense was a constant threat throughout the night.
 
As has been the case all year, the offense was extremely balanced as three different hitters picked up 10 kills apiece while another added nine. Anna Pioske finished with a double-double as she added 11 digs to her 10 kills while Emma Lange filled the stat sheet with 10 kills, six blocks and four digs. Riley Hanson also finished with 10 kills while Anna Schlaak came within a kill of a double-double with nine kills and a team-best 12 digs.
 
Kasey Williams joined Pioske with a double-double of her own with 35 assists and 10 digs while Emily McDonough also finished in double figures with 11 digs. The double-double was Williams' fourth of the season while McDonough hit double digit digs for the ninth match in a row to begin the year.
 
Alisha VanderWoude led the Peacocks with seven kills with Carlee Ketchum picked up 12 digs and Malissa LeClaire added 15 assists.
 
The first set featured four ties by the time the score reached 10-10 before Concordia delivered the first sustained run to take the lead. The Golden Bears rattled off seven of eight to make it 17-11 in the favor before eventually extending it to double digits at 23-13, but UIU made it interesting with a 5-0 run of their own. After a timeout, CSP regained the momentum to close out the set 25-19.
 
The second set was all Concordia as they wasted little time turning a 2-0 deficit into an eight point lead with a 10-0 run. The lead continued to grow from there as it hit 10 at 15-5 before growing to 15 at 22-7. The lead returned to 15 at 24-9 and again at the final margin of 25-10 as CSP built a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
After the Peacocks built a 7-6 lead in the third, the Golden Bears grabbed 10 of the next 11 points to take control. Concordia saw their lead balloon to double digits at 22-12, but Upper Iowa showed some resilience to keep the match alive before CSP finished off the sweep with a 25-17 set win.
 
Concordia returns home on Saturday in a battle of top-10 teams as they play host to #9 Winona State in the NSIC home opener at the Gangelhoff Center.