ST. PAUL, Minn. - The #3 Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (15-2, 8-1 NSIC) returns home for a pair of NSIC matches this weekend as they play host to Bemidji State (3-15, 0-9 NSIC) on Friday night and Minnesota Crookston (4-13, 1-8 NSIC) on Saturday afternoon.

BEMIDJI STATE SERIES HISTORY
On Friday, the Golden Bears meet the Beavers for the 41st time in program history as Concordia enters with a record of 31-8-1 against BSU. Concordia has held a decisive edge in recent history in the series with 29 consecutive wins dating back to the 2002 season. During that span, all but two of Concordia's wins have been sweeps, including the last ten in a row. In 20 meetings in St. Paul, CSP is 17-3.

LAST MEETING VS BSU
Last year in the final match of the regular season, Concordia hit a school record .591 in a three set sweep of Bemidji State.

The win in the season finale clinched the program's 13th NSIC regular season championship in the last 14 years dating back to head coach Brady Starkey's first year in 2003. The Golden Bears used a record-setting offensive afternoon to improve to 31-8-1 in 40 all-time meetings with BSU, winning 29 in a row in the series. Concordia had at least 17 kills in each set, recording 20 in the first and 21 in the second and hit at least .500 in each set with a match-high .690 in the second (21-1-29). The Golden Bears terminated 58 kills with just six errors in 88 swings in the match.

Senior setter Kasey Williams paced the offense with 41 assists while sophomore Elizabeth Mohr added eight and libero Emily McDonough chipped in four. The offense featured four players with double-digit kills and another with eight. McDonough led the defense with 13 digs while Williams was a dig shy of a double-double with nine. Just a night after starting the match 6-for-6 in kills, senior Riley Hanson hit a blistering .800 with 12 kills in 15 error-free attacks. The newest member of the 1,000/1,000 club, senior Anna Schlaak had a double-double with 10 kills and 10 digs. Schlaak hit .643 (10-1-14) in the match. Freshman Sara Macek also stood out, as the rookie middle from Monticello put down eight kills in nine swings to hit .778 for the match.

MINNESOTA CROOKSTON SERIES HISTORY
Saturday's contest in St. Paul between CSP and Minnesota Crookston marks the 34th meeting between the two programs with Concordia holding a 30-3 edge in the previous meetings. After three straight wins for Minnesota Crookston to begin the series, Concordia has rattled off 30 wins in a row with 28 sweeps dating back to 2000. Minnesota Crookston's last win in the series came back on Oct. 29, 1999 in St. Paul. In 16 meetings all-time in St. Paul, CSP has won 15 of them.

LAST MEETING VS UMC
In last season's meeting, Anna Schlaak became the 14th CSP player to reach 1,000 digs and fifth to join the 1,000/1,000 club as the Golden Bears cruised to a sweep of Minnesota Crookston.

Concordia, who won the match by scores of 25-6, 25-12 and 25-18 to move CSP a win away from clinching a share of the NSIC regular season championship. The Golden Bears dominated in every facet of the match as they led in kills (37-23), hitting errors (7-23), aces (7-1), blocks (8.0-0.0) and assists (34-21).

Five players had either seven or six kills for Concordia. Junior Shelby Seurer and senior Riley Hanson matched Schlaak's seven kills, with Hanson terminating kills on her first six swings, finishing the night hitting .545 on 11 attempts. Concordia hit .390 for the evening following a blistering .588 (10-0-17) first set behind senior setter Kasey Williams, who dished out 27 assists. The defense was strong, as senior libero Emily McDonough matched Schlaak's 11 digs in holding UMC to .000 hitting (23-23-91) for the night including the decisive first set which saw CSP hold UMC to -.200 (5-10-25) hitting. At the net, Concordia was disruptive throughout, producing eight team blocks led by Seurer's five.

LAST TIME OUT
After picking up a sweep at St. Cloud State on Friday, CSP saw their 18-match winning streak in NSIC play snapped by then-#6 Minnesota Duluth on Saturday.

The loss was Concordia's first on the road in NSIC action since Oct. 16, 2015, ending a streak of 20 in a row. The Golden Bears rode their offense to victory on Friday with a season-best hitting percentage of .451 before the Bulldogs put up the highest mark of the year against the CSP defense at .317

Brooklyn Lewis continued to pace the offense with a team-best 15+ kills in both matches, finishing with 4.43 kills per set and a .301 hitting percentage. Shelby Seurer was extremely efficient as she collected 20 kills with no errors on 37 swings to compile a .541 hitting percentage on the weekend.

IN THE POLLS
After sitting in the top spot in the first two AVCA Polls, CSP had ranked #2 over the past four weeks before dropping to #3 this week. Concordia has been a mainstay near the top of the poll for over a decade as they haven't ranked outside the top-10 since 2003 and have spent just one week outside the top-5 since October 2012. The Golden Bears have spent an incredible 77 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.

NSIC LEADERS
Heading into the weekend, Concordia has gotten production from throughout their lineup with five different players that rank near the top of the NSIC in different statistical categories so far this year.

Setter Elizabeth Mohr leads the way in that regard as she ranks second the nation and first in the NSIC in assists per set while also ranking second and first, respectively, in total assists as she amassed an average of 13.25 assists per set while tallying 848 assists overall heading into the week.
 
The Golden Bears' Sara Macek has been one of the most efficient hitting .401 hitting percentage ranking fifth in the NSIC. While Macek has led the way in hitting percentage, Brooklyn Lewis has been the go-to hitter for the Golden Bears as her 3.75 kills per set rank fifth in the league as well. Lewis has been even better in conference play as her 4.24 kills per set in league contests rank second in the NSIC.

FreshmenTori Hanson and Erin Fallert round out the group as Hanson ranks eighth in the league with 4.15 digs per set and Fallert ranks ninth with 0.39 aces per set.