MANKATO, Minn. – The #1 Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (11-0, 3-0 NSIC) cruised to a four-set win on the road Minnesota State (7-4, 1-2 NSIC) in a mid-week matchup on Tuesday night.

CSP remained unbeaten with their 11th win in as many chances to move 20 games above .500 in the all-time series against the Mavericks at 24-4.

The Golden Bears rode their defense to victory as they held the Mavericks to .065 for the match, including marks in the negative in each of the final two sets. Concordia also hit well offensively in their three set wins as they hit .388 in the first, third and fourth sets while they -.139 in their set loss. CSP also held a 55-40 advantage in digs and a 10-2 advantage in service aces.
 
Emily McDonough helped lead the way from the back as she led all players with 18 digs. She was joined in double figures with Anna Schlaak, who finished with 11 digs and seven kills.
 
Offensively, Riley Hanson continued to pace the Golden Bears with 13 kills along with three digs while hitting .409 while Emma Lange collected 10 kills, two blocks and two digs. Anna Pioske also added nine kills and Sarah Macek put up seven. Kasey Williams continued her strong start with 48 assists as well.
 
For the Mavericks, Krista Hassing provided a bright spot with 12 kills and a .344 hitting percentage while Autumn Risch finished with 27 assists.
 
The Mavericks came out firing as they quickly ran out to a 6-2 lead, but Concordia battled their way back. CSP pulled back within on five different occasions from 9-8 to 19-18 until they finally broke through for their first lead of the set with a 5-0 run to make it 23-19. After the Mavericks ended the streak with a point, the Golden Bears took the final two points to win the set 25-20.
 
After an even start in the second set put the score at 8-8, Minnesota State began to pull away with eight straight points to double up the Golden Bears. Concordia fought their way back into it for much of the rest of the set as they pulled within three late at 23-20 and again at 24-21 but were unable to complete the comeback as MSU closed it out 25-21.
 
The Golden Bears completely dominated in the third set to regain the momentum in the match as a massive 16-2 run turned an early 3-2 lead into a decisive 19-4 advantage, putting things away quickly. Minnesota State showed some resilience late as they compiled a late 4-0 burst, but it was too late as CSP took a 2-1 lead in the match with a 25-10 set win in the third.
 
Concordia once again controlled play in the fourth set as they closed out the match. An 8-0 run midway through the set turned a 9-4 advantage into a 17-4 lead. The lead hit 15 at 22-7 before finishing with the same margin at 25-10.
 
CSP remains on the road this weekend as they travel to Minnesota Crookston and Bemidji State to continue NSIC play.