ST. PAUL, Minn. - The #3 Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (17-2, 10-1 NSIC) is set for a big weekend on their home court with #20 Wayne State (14-7, 7-4 NSIC) coming to town on Friday night for Pink Out for Hope Lodge and #16 Augustana (16-5, 7-4 NSIC) on Saturday afternoon at Gangelhoff Center.

PINK OUT FOR HOPE LODGE
The Friday, October 20th match against Wayne State will be Pink Out for Hope Lodge put on by Concordia University Athletics. The first 50 student fans (with CSP ID) will get a free T-shirt in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. T-shirts will also be available for purchase ($5 for students, $10 for adults) at the Bear Wear table. The team will be collecting donations and supplies for Hope Lodge – Minneapolis, which provides free housing for cancer patients and their families while undergoing treatment. Appropriate supplies to donate include food items (non-perishable items, hot chocolate, tea), cleaning supplies (paper towels, disinfecting wipes, dish soap), and travel size toiletry items.

PARENT NIGHT
Saturday's match against Augustana marks the annual Parent Night for Concordia volleyball. Parents of CSP volleyball players will be recognized for their hard work and dedication with a brief pregame ceremony.

WAYNE STATE SERIES HISTORY
On Friday, the Golden Bears take on the Wildcats for the 43rd time in the all-time series as CSP holds a record of 30-12 against WSC heading into the weekend. Since Wayne State won seven of the first eight meetings of the series, Concordia has rattled off 29 wins in the past 34 contests. That stretch included 19 wins in a row for CSP spanning from 2003-2009. The last five meetings have featured three regular season wins for Concordia while Wayne State has claimed wins in both of the postseason meetings. On their home court, CSP has gone 16-7 against the Wildcats.

LAST MEETING VS WSC
In the lone meeting last season, then-#2 Concordia went on the road and swept then-#8 Wayne State in Wayne on Oct. 8, 2016.

The Golden Bears dominated throughout as they hit at least .333 each set to finish at .367 for the match while holding Wayne State to .137, including .088 or below in each of the first two sets. CSP led in nearly every category with edges of 47-34 in kills, 47-34 in assists, 59-38 in digs and 7.0-5.0 in blocks while committing less hitting errors (11-18) and less service errors (6-7).

Anna Schlaak finished off a huge weekend with a match-high 15 kills to go along with 14 digs and a pair service aces while hitting .400. For the weekend, Schlaak put up a massive 38 kills and 31 digs with double-doubles in each match. Emily McDonough also picked up where she left off as she led all players with 18 digs while Kasey Williams added 43 assists in another big effort. Emma Lange joined Anna Schlaak in double figures with 12 kills and a .455 hitting percentage while Shelby Seurer and Mariya Sampson each collected seven kills on 10 swings with no errors.

AUGUSTANA SERIES HISTORY
Concordia enters Saturday's contest with the Vikings with a record of 22-1 in the previous 23 meetings. Augustana's lone win came back in 1988 as CSP has won all 22 meetings since the turn of the century. While the Golden Bears have consistently come out on top against Augie, the last three meetings have all gone five sets as Concordia has had to come from behind in all three matches. The Golden Bears have won all 10 meetings between the two schools in St. Paul.

LAST MEETING VS AUGIE
In last season's meeting, then-#2 Concordia-St. Paul claimed the final three sets in a dramatic comeback victory on the road at then-#6 Augustana on Oct. 7, 2016.

The win represented the first time Concordia has erased a 2-0 deficit to win since doing so on the final day of the regular season in 2014 on the road at Northern State. In what was a fairly even match statistically, the Golden Bears used a 91-65 edge in digs, a 5-1 edge in service aces and a 10.0-7.0 edge in blocks to aid their cause in the win. CSP also finished with a slight .260-.237 advantage in hitting percentage while finishing with a 72-64 margin in kills as well.

The duo of Anna Schlaak and Kasey Williams each contributed monster double-doubles to lead the way in the win. Schlaak's 23 kills and 50 swings were both the highest on the team this season while her 17 digs fell two short of her season high as she collected her fourth double-double on the year. It was a historic night individually for Anna Schlaak as she became the 17th member of the 1,000 kill club in program history as she moved to 1,017 with her 23 kills. Schlaak joins teammate Riley Hanson as the two active Golden Bears to hit that mark. Williams hit the 60 assist mark for the first time this season, falling six short of her career best, while she also led all players in the match with 22 digs. Her 22 digs tied Emily McDonough for the most by a Golden Bear this season.

LAST TIME OUT
Concordia continued long winning streaks against both Bemidji State and Minnesota Crookston as they won their 30th in a row with a sweep of the Beavers and their 31st in a row with a sweep of the Golden Eagles.

The Golden Bears combined to hit .381 on the weekend, including a season-best mark of .506 on Friday night against BSU. Concordia held an impressive 102-57 edge in kills and a 12-1 edge in service aces while also out-pacing their opponents in digs at 92-85.

Tori Hanson contributed a staggering 6.33 digs per set (38 total digs) to go along with a team-best seven aces (1.17 per set) in the two wins. Elizabeth Mohr orchestrated the offense with 14.33 assists per set (86 total assists) while guiding the team to a .381 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 four weeks before dropping to #3 last 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 six 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 13.34 assists per set while tallying 934 assists overall heading into the week.
 
The Golden Bears' Sara Macek has been one of the most efficient hitting .401 hitting percentage ranking fourth 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 3.69 kills per set rank sixth in the league while her 3.91 points per set rank ninth as well. Lewis has been even better in conference play as her 4.05 kills per set in league contests rank second in the NSIC.

Freshmen Erin Fallert and Brooklyn Lewis round out the group as Fallert ranks seventh in the league with 0.39 aces per set Hanson ranks eighth with 4.38 digs per set.