ST. PAUL, Minn. – The #3 Concordia Golden Bears volleyball team (17-2, 10-1 NSIC) completed a sweep of the weekend as they took care of Minnesota Crookston (4-15, 1-10 NSIC) in straight sets on Saturday afternoon at Gangelhoff Center. CSP set the tone with a 25-13 set win in the first before taking the second set 25-20 and the third set 25-19.
 
The Golden Bears defeated the Golden Eagles for the 31^st consecutive win in the all-time series as they moved to 31-3 against UMC. CSP also kept pace with SMSU, UMD and NSU in the NSIC standings as the four teams remain tied with one loss to top the league.
 
After hitting an impressive .581 in the opening set with 20 kills (17 assisted by Elizabeth Mohr), Concordia turned to their defense in the final two sets as they held Minnesota Crookston to .150 in the second and .119 in the third. Overall, CSP finished at .300 while holding UMC to .182. Concordia also led the way with five aces compared to none for the Golden Eagles.
 
While the Golden Bears claimed the win, Minnesota Crookston managed to hold a 9.0-1.0 edge in blocks as well as a 58-51 edge in digs in the losing effort.
 
While Hope Schiller failed to reach double figures in digs for just the second time in the last nine matches, she did manage to pace the team with 15 kills while hitting a solid .429 in the win. Schiller reached 15+ for the third time this season, falling one short of her season high.
 
Shelby Seurer joined her in double figures with 11 kills, including seven in the first set, as she reached 10+ for the six time on the year. Mariya Sampson added eight kills while Brooklyn Lewis chipped in seven.
 
Elizabeth Mohr collected assists at a high clip as she finished with 46 assists for an average of 15.33 pet set. She also added five digs and two aces. The freshmen duo of Tori Hanson and Erin Fallert played a major role in the back row as Hanson paced all players with 21 digs and three aces while Fallert put up 11 digs. Hanson surpassed 20 digs for the fourth time this season, falling three shy of her career best.
 
Deaira Gresham led the Golden Eagles with nine kils while Becca Vandenheuvel paced the team with 11 digs in the loss.
 
The Golden Bears came out firing in the first set with eight of the first nine points as they put it out of reach early. Minnesota Crookston closed the gap to within five at 9-4 before a 5-0 run doubled the lead and pushed it to double figures. The lead remained eight or higher the rest of the way as Concordia rolled to a 25-13 set win in the opening set.
 
Minnesota Crookston turned the momentum in their favor in the early portion of the second set as they jumped ahead 8-5. A few points later, CSP rattled off four points in a row to take a 12-10 lead before UMC temporarily jumped back out front at 14-13. The next five points went to the Golden Bears as they took the lead for good en route to winning the set 25-20.
 
The third set proved to be the most back-and-forth of the match as it featured 11 ties and four lead changes. The score remained tied at 12-12 before a 9-3 push gave the Concordia a 21-15 lead. The lead held above four or higher the rest of the set as CSP closed out the sweep by taking the third set 25-19.
 
The Golden Bears remain home next weekend as they welcome a pair of ranked opponents to town. CSP will host #21 Wayne State on Friday night and #18 Augustana on Saturday.