ST. PAUL, Minn. - The  #1 Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (13-0, 5-0 NSIC) returns home for a big weekend as they host #2 Minnesota Duluth (13-0, 5-0 NSIC) for Roast the Dogs on Friday night before taking on St. Cloud State (5-8, 1-4 NSIC) on Saturday for Homecoming.

ROAST THE DOGS
Friday night marks the annual Roast the Dogs night as the Golden Bears meet the Bulldogs. Roast the Dogs is the annual hot dog cookout on the Gangelhoff Plaza beginning at 6 p.m. In addition to hot dogs being available outside (first come, first served), the first 100 Concordia students (with a CSP ID) will receive a Roast the Dogs t-shirt upstairs in the Gangelhoff Center starting at 6:30 p.m. Additional t-shirts will be available for purchase for $10 at Bear Wear.

HOMECOMING 2016: You Betcha!
This Saturday's volleyball match is Concordia's Homecoming with a 5 p.m. start following the noon football game at Sea Foam Stadium. Fans who have purchased a Homecoming wristband receive free admission to football and volleyball on Saturday, as well as Comet's Carnival which is open from 2-5 p.m. on the Sea Foam Stadium plaza. Perks for the wristband include unlimited rides and food! Prices are $25 for adults (21+), $10 for children (4-12) with children 3 and younger free. CSP students (with ID) will receive free admission. Register by midnight on Wednesday night at ave.csp.edu/homecoming2016, or purchase a wristband at the registration tent at Sea Foam Stadium on gameday.

THE MATCHUPS
On Friday, the Golden Bears meet the Bulldogs for the 48th time in the history of the series as UMD holds a 25-22 edge in the previous matchups. Concordia has been far more successful since 2003 with 22 wins in the past 36 meetings to shift the momentum of the series in their favor. In the 25 previous meetings in St. Paul, Minnesota Duluth holds a slight 13-12 advantage. Concordia won all three meetings, including in the NSIC Tournament Semifinals, last season.

In the NSIC Tournament last year, Concordia held on for a five-set win in the semifinals against UMD at the Gangelhoff Center. The Golden Bears appeared poised to pick up a sweep as they cruised to wins in each of the first two sets and led late in the third before the Bulldogs stormed back to win the third and fourth sets to take the match the full five sets. Concordia bounced back in empathic fashion to win the fifth to knock off the Bulldogs. Riley Hanson delivered an impressive effort with a team-best 19 kills on an efficient .586 hitting to lead a balanced Golden Bear attack. Emma Lange, Anna Pioske and Anna Schlaak all joined her in double figures in kills as well.

Saturday's contest between CSP and St. Cloud State marks the 24th meeting between the Golden Bears and Huskies, with CSP holding a 22-1 edge in the previous 23 meetings. After SCSU won the first meeting in the series back in 1975, Concordia has rattled off 22 wins, including 19 sweeps. The Golden Bears have gone 9-0 against St. Cloud State in St. Paul, not dropping a set there since 2007.

Last year in St. Paul, the Golden Bears stifled the Huskies in a sweep. Concordia held the Huskies to -.009 hitting for the match as they rolled to the three-set victory. On the night, Concordia's defense was paced by senior libero Taylor Dordan's 14 digs while she added three service aces. Two others also reached double-figures in digs, Anna Schlaak and Kasey Williams with 10 each. Offensively, Concordia hit .219 for the night with Lange leading the team with nine kills and a .333 percentage. Schlaak added eight kills while Hanson and Schiller each had seven.

LAST TIME OUT
The Golden Bears finished off a perfect week in which they knocked off Minnesota State on the road in mid-week before sweeping matches at Minnesota Crookston and Bemidji State on the weekend.

Concordia dominated both offensively and defensively as they hit .299 on the weekend while holding their opponents to .064 with a massive 141-76 edge in kills. In addition, CSP held a 26-8 edge in service aces, a 128-95 edge in digs and a 133-69 edge in assists as they won nine of ten sets.

Riley Hanson continued her efficient start to the season as she collected 3.20 kills per set while hitting .407 in the three wins. Defensively, Emily McDonough once again led the way in the digs column with a team-best 40 digs (4.00 per set) while extending her streak to 12 matches to begin the year before collecting nine on Saturday.

POLL POSITION
Concordia was selected as the top team in the latest AVCA Poll, retaining the #1 ranking for the fifth consecutive week to begin the season. With the five weeks in the top spot, the Golden Bears have now spent an incredible 70 weeks at #1 since they debuted there in the 2003 preseason poll. Since the 2007 season, CSP has ranked #1 at least once every season.

NATIONAL LEADERS
Heading into this week, Concordia has an NCAA individual statistical leader along with another player ranking second while the team ranks first in three categories.

Riley Hanson holds onto her top spot in hitting percentage as she moved to .488 on the year, making her one of three players hitting over .450 on the year. Kasey Williams dropped out of the top spot but remains sits at second in assists per set at 12.61 as her mark sits just 0.01 assists behind the leader.

The team also leads the nation with 14.46 assists per set and 15.46 kills per set while their team hitting percentage of .333 also sits in the top spot.

PERFECT START
Concordia heads into the weekend with a perfect 13-0 record for the third time in program history and first time since 2011. The start surpassed the team's 11-game winnng streak back in 2007, the year the team won their first national title, as they went on to finish 36-4 that season. The only other seasons they had a better start were in 2011 when they won their first 22 matches before finishing 34-2 as national champions and in 2009 as they went  a perfect 37-0 to win the title.