MARSHALL, Minn. – The second-ranked Concordia Golden Bears volleyball team (21-2, 14-1 NSIC) picked up a massive four set win on the road as they knocked off top-ranked Southwest Minnesota State (21-2, 13-2 NSIC) on Saturday afternoon. CSP took the first two sets 25-20 and 25-16 before dropping the third 25-10 and bouncing back to win the fourth 25-21.
 
For the fourth time in five contests between the two schools as #1 and #2 in the country, it was the lower ranked team that came out on top. The win gives each school one such win this season as the Golden Bears improved to 3-2 in the five meetings as the top two ranked teams. In the overall series, CSP improved to 34-24-1 in 59 meetings, including 13-8 in 21 trips to Marshall.
 
With the Mustangs dropping their second match in league play and UMD dropping two in a row, the Golden Bears moved into sole possession of first place in the conference with just five matches to play. Next Friday's match with #9 Northern State marks the lone remaining regular season match against a team currently in the top-10 in the NSIC with NSU sitting just a game behind CSP in a tie for second.
 
While Concordia trailed in most statistical categories in the match, the Golden Bears picked up the big points when they mattered most as the three most contested sets went in their favor. Both teams flashed their offensive prowess throughout the afternoon as CSP registered in with a .311 hitting percentage compared to a .345 mark for SMSU. Southwest Minnesota State also held slight edges of 51-49 in digs, 5-3 in aces while both teams picked up 4.0 total blocks. The Golden Bears did, however, hold a 60-52 advantage in kills.
 
It was another massive performance for Brooklyn Lewis as she reached 20 kills for the first time in her career. It marked the first time that a Golden Bear player hit the mark on the season as Lewis surpassed her previous best of 19 kills, a mark she hit three times, including in last night's victory over USF. The junior hit .375 on her 40 swings while she also added both a solo block and a block assist.
 
Mariya Sampson joined her in double figures with 15 kills and a .394 hitting percentage while Sydney Book added an extremely efficient nine kills on 12 swings to hit .750. Shelby Seurer also chipped in eight kills, four digs and three blocks in the win.
 
Elizabeth Mohr tallied 47 assists and seven digs from the setter position while Tori Hanson and Hope Schiller matched each other for the team lead with 13 digs on the afternoon.
 
NSIC Preseason Player of the Year Taylor Reiss was active for the Mustangs as she led all players with 22 kills to go along with 10 digs to finish with a double-double. Megan Larson added a double-double of her own with 46 assists and 14 digs while Kaylee Burmeister tacked on 15 kills.
 
Concordia wasted little time building a huge cushion with 10 of the first 12 points as SMSU was forced to burn both of their timeouts early. The Mustangs chipped away from there as they cut the deficit to five at 12-7 with three points in a row before pulling within two at 16-14 with another 3-0 burst. The gap remained two at 18-16, but Southwest Minnesota State was unable to pull any closer as the Golden Bears rolled to a 25-20 set win to get off to a strong start in the match.
 
The second set was back and forth in the early going with seven ties and five lead changes by the 9-9 mark as neither team was able to take control. From there, CSP took two in a row and eight of 10 to take the lead for good at 17-11 as they started to pull away. The lead did not shrink below five for the remainder of the set as Concordia cruised to win the set 25-16 to put themselves within a set of a sweep.
 
The Mustangs came out to a scorching start in the third with seven of the first eight points to set the tone in the set. The Golden Bears scored the next two points to temporarily pull within four, but that would be all the closer they would get as it was all SMSU from there. The lead hit double figures at 14-4 and continued to grow from there as Southwest Minnesota State forced a fourth set with a 25-10 win in the set.
 
The fourth set proved to be the most hotly contested with a staggering 17 ties and six lead changes as the lead did not grow larger than two until the very end. SMSU was the first to build a two-point advantage at 9-7 before CSP shifted the momentum in their favor by building a two-point advantage at 17-15. The Mustangs battled back to tie it up at 18-18 and take the lead at 20-19, but Concordia took over from there. The Golden Bears rattled off a 6-1 run to take the set 25-21 to finish off the four-set victory.
 
CSP remains on the road next Tuesday at Minnesota State before returning home for their final two regular season matches at home against Northern State and MSU Moorhead.