MANKATO, Minn. – The #1 Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (22-2, 15-1 NSIC) made it seven straight victories with a four-set road win of Minnesota State (12-12, 6-10 NSIC) on Tuesday night. The Golden Bears bounced back from a 25-23 defeat in the first set to win the final three sets 25-21, 25-14 and 25-21.
 
Concordia maintained their lead at the top of the conference as they moved to 28-4 in 32 all-time meetings against the Mavericks. CSP continued their dominance in the recent history of the series with 16 wins in a row over Minnesota State.
 
As has been the case over the past several matches, the Golden Bears found a way to ground out a victory despite not dominating in any statistical category on the night. Concordia finished with a .266 hitting percentage as they saved their best for last with a .364 mark in the fourth set. The Mavericks finished with a .215 hitting percentage on the night as CSP also registered in with 10 more kills than MSU at 59-49. Concordia also managed advantages of 74-56 in digs, 5-4 in service aces and 7.0-6.0 in total blocks on the night.
 
For the third match in a row, Brooklyn Lewis either matched or surpassed her career best in kills as she collected a match-high 21 kills with a .317 hitting percentage. Lewis tied her career high with 19 last Friday before edging that total by one in each of the last two matches.
 
Joining Lewis in double figures were Mariya Sampson with 14 kills and Shelby Seurer with 10. Seurer led the team with a .471 hitting percentage as she committed just two errors on her 17 swings.
 
Hope Schiller fell a kill shy of a double-double with nine kills while she also matched Tori Hanson with a match-best 17 digs in the win. Elizabeth Mohr added 50 assists and 15 digs for a massive double-double while Taylor Soine also hit double digits with 11 digs. Mohr hit 50 assists for the 12^th time on the year as she has picked up 40+ in all but two matches this season.
 
Morgan Olson paced the Mavericks with 13 kills and a .333 hitting percentage while Autumn Risch tallied a double-double with 15 assists and 11 digs in the loss.
 
After the Mavericks grabbed a slim early lead, the two teams spent much of the middle portion of the set trading leads. CSP rattled off three in a row to take their first lead at 6-5 before the lead changed hands three times with nine ties by the 15-15 mark. The Golden Bears then put together another run with five straight points to build their largest lead of the set, but a 6-0 run the other way put Minnesota State back out front 21-20. Concordia would not lead for the rest of the set as MSU went on to take it 25-23.
 
Minnesota State once again took the first two points of the second set and held a lead until CSP tied it up at 5-5. A few points later, CSP took five of six to build their first edge at 11-9 before continuing to maintain a lead from there. The differential remained at one at 16-15 before CSP took three straight to push it to a four point lead. MSU followed with three points in their favor before the Golden Bears answered right back with three in a row to make it 22-18. Concordia held a comfortable lead from there before closing out the set 25-21.
 
The Golden Bears wasted little time pulling away in the third with six of the first seven and nine of the first 11 points as they led from start to finish. The lead continued to grow from there as it reached nine at 14-5 before hitting double digits at 20-10. Concordia's advantage grew to as many as 12 before settling with a final margin of 25-14 to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
 
The fourth set was even from the start as there were seven ties through the first 22 points of the set. The Golden Bears started to build a lead with a 6-2 run to make it 17-13, but saw the Mavericks close the gap back down to two at 19-17. That would be all the closer they would get as Concordia went on to close out the set 25-21 to win the match in four.
 
CSP returns home this weekend with a big pair of matches as they play host to #7 Northern State on Friday and MSU Moorhead on Saturday. Saturday's contest with the Dragons also represents Senior Day while the program will also be celebrating the 10 year anniversary on Concordia's first national title.