ST. PAUL, Minn. – The #1 Concordia Golden Bears (3-0) continued their perfect start in the Holiday Inn Express & Suites Woodbury Volleyball Clash as they picked up their third consecutive sweep, knocking off #5 Western Washington (0-3) on Friday evening.
The win makes two in as many days against the Vikings and three in a row as Concordia controlled play throughout. The win moved the Golden Bears a full 30 games above .500 in their home preseason tournament over the past decade as their record sits at 32-2.
The recipe for success was duplicated as CSP used another efficient effort on the offensive end while causing problems for their opponent's attack. The Golden Bears finished the match hitting .313 while holding WWU to .143 for the match. Concordia led in nearly every aspect of the match as they outmatched the Vikings in kills (52-34), assists (45-33), digs (50-45), blocks (5-3) and service aces (4-2).
The trio of
Anna Pioske,
Emma Lange and
Riley Hanson all finished in double figures in kills as Pioske led all players with 14, Lange added 13 and Hanson chipped in 12. Lange and Hanson were especially impressive offensively as Lange hit .632 (13-1-19) and Hanson hit .579 (12-1-19) while Pioske contributed from the back row with seven digs. Hanson started the match on fire as her first nine swings all went for kills.
Kasey Williams pulled the strings for the attack as she collected 40 assists to go along with nine digs while
Anna Schlaak and
Emily McDonough continued to provide stability in the back row with 14 and 13 digs, respectively.
Abby Phelps provided a bright spot for Western Washington as she led the team with 10 kills and 16 digs to pick up the double-double. Joellee Buckner added six kills and 10 digs while Brett Boesel had 17 assists.
After Concordia pulled ahead early in the first set, WWU showed some resilience as they eventually pulled even at 18-18 before taking their only lead at 20-19. Concordia quickly responded with the next three in a row before hanging on to take the first set 25-23.
The two teams went back in forth to start the second before a 5-0 run made it 8-4 in favor of CSP and gave them the lead for good. Western Washington pulled back within one at 9-8, but the Golden Bear attack proved to be too much as the next five and 12 of the next 16 went in their favor before they ran out to a 25-15 set win.
The third set followed a similar script as a tight set early shifted in Concordia's favor midway through. CSP took the lead for good at 10-9 and held a lead of two or more the rest of the way as they eventually cruised to a 25-19 win to close out the match.
Concordia will look to close out a perfect weekend tomorrow afternoon as they take on #17 Northern State (1-0) at 12:30 p.m. at the Gangelhoff Center.
