ST. PAUL, Minn. – The #1 Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (10-0, 2-0 NSIC) returns to action with a mid-week showdown at Minnesota State (7-3, 1-1 NSIC) at the Taylor Center in Mankato on Tuesday night at 7 p.m.
THE MATCHUP
The Golden Bears will look to continue their best start since 2011 as they seek their 11
th consecutive win to start the season for the fourth time in school history as they travel south to face the Mavericks.
Concordia and Minnesota State will meet for the 28th time in the all-time series as the Golden Bears hold a 23-4 record through the first 27 meetings. After MSU handed Concordia a loss in the conference opener in 2014, CSP has rattled off five straight wins in the series, including a five-set win in last year's NSIC Tournament quarterfinal match.
In the third meeting of the season last year, the Golden Bears rallied from a 2-1 deficit to knock the Mustangs out of the NSIC Tournament with a five-set victory in the quarterfinals. CSP had three players surpass the 15 kill mark as
Anna Pioske and
Emma Lange had 16 kills each while
Riley Hanson registered in at 15 kills. Pioske set a new career high with her 16 kills as she also chipped in eight digs. Lange and Hanson each added four blocks as well.
Kasey Williams had a big statistical night as she contributed 53 assists and 14 digs while
Anna Schlaak also chipped in a double-double with 10 kills and 15 digs.
Taylor Dordan paced all players in the match with 23 digs.
LAST TIME OUT
Concordia is coming off a strong weekend in which they took down Upper Iowa on the road in straight sets on Thursday before returning home to sweep then-#9 Winona State on Saturday. The Golden Bears hit a dominant .349 on the weekend while holding their opponents to just .073. CSP once again spread things around as five players picked up at least 2.00 kills per set, five had at least 2.00 digs per set and five had 1.00 blocks per set.
The trio of
Riley Hanson,
Kasey Williams and
Emily McDonough all led the team in their respective categories as Hanson had 3.33 kills per set and a .514 hitting percentage, Williams had 11.83 assists per set, and McDonough picked up 4.33 digs per set.
NATIONAL LEADERS
Heading into this week, Concordia has a pair of NCAA individual statistical leaders while the team ranks first in two categories and second in another.
Kasey Williams maintains her comfortable lead in assists per set at 13.32 as her mark sits over a full assist higher than any other setter.
Riley Hanson also held onto her top spot in hitting percentage as she improved to .511 on the year, making her one of three players hitting over .500 on the year.
Emma Lange also ranks near the top in that category as her .440 hitting percentage ranks seventh. Not surprisingly, the team also leads the nation with 14.84 assists per set and 15.9 kills per set while their team hitting percentage of .343 trails just Nebraska-Kearney.
