ST. PAUL, Minn. - The #2 Concordia Golden Bears volleyball team (14-1, 7-0 NSIC) wraps up their four game road trip this weekend with NSIC contests at St. Cloud State (11-6, 3-4 NSIC) on Friday night and #6 Minnesota Duluth (13-2, 6-1 NSIC) on Saturday afternoon.

ST. CLOUD STATE SERIES HISTORY
The Golden Bears and Huskies will meet for the 26th time in the all-time series on Friday night with CSP holding a record of 24-1 in the previous 25 meetings. After St. Cloud State claimed a sweep in the first ever meeting between the two schools back in 1975, Concordia has won 24 in a row since 2001, picking up sweeps in 21 of those meetings. That lone loss represented CSP's lone loss in 12 trips to St. Cloud.

LAST MEETING VS SCSU
Back on Oct. 1, 2016, CSP cruised to a sweep of St. Cloud State at the Gangelhoff Center.

CSP was solid throughout as they hit an impressive .418 while holding SCSU to just .086 on the night. The Golden Bears also dominated at the net as they collected 8.0 blocks with just 1.0 for St. Cloud State while committing less hitting errors with nine compared to 17 for the Huskies.

Anna Schlaak shined with a team-best 16 kills with a solid .406 hitting percentage while also finishing second on the team with eight digs. Riley Hanson added another efficient effort as she put up 11 kills on just 17 swings for a mark of .529. Rounding out highlights offensively, Emma Lange finished with eight kills with just one error to hit .467 in the win. Emily McDonough continued her stellar senior campaign as she nearly doubled up the next highest finisher with 17 digs and a match-best three service aces while Kasey Williams and Elizabeth Mohr split the setting duties as Williams picked up 26 assists and Mohr picked up 17.

MINNESOTA DULUTH SERIES HISTORY
CSP enters the weekend with a record of 23-26 in the all-time series with UMD, including a record of 10-12 in Duluth. Concordia has had much more success recently in the series as they have claimed 18 wins in the last 25 meetings. Last season, the Golden Bears and Bulldogs split the season series with each team picking up a road win in a pair of five set thrillers.

LAST MEETING VS UMD
In last season's trip on Nov. 4, then-#1 Concordia held on for a huge five-set win on the road at then-#2 Minnesota Duluth to even the season series to 1-1.

While Concordia held a sizable .246 to .152 advantage in hitting percentage, the real story was CSP's massive 18.0 to 9.0 in total blocks. CSP's mark of 18.0 total blocks is sixth-most in program history and ties the highest mark since 2006. Emma Lange led the way with seven blocks while Mariya Sampson added four and Shelby Seurer and Riley Hanson each chipped in three in a dominant performance as the net.

Along with her exploits at the net, Emma Lange filled the box score elsewhere as she also picked up 12 kills with a .455 hitting percentage to go along with seven digs on the night. Leading the way on offense was Hanson as she had a team-high 16 kills while Mariya Sampson added 13 kills and Shelby Seurer contributed 10 kills in a balanced attack. Anna Schlaak nearly made it five players in double figures in kills as she finished a kill short of a double-double with nine kills and 13 digs on the night. Guiding the offense was setter Kasey Williams as she finished with a match-high 57 of the team's 59 assists as she was a part of all but three of Concordia's kills. The duo of Anna Pioske and Emily McDonough carried the load in the digs department as the two combined for 38 of the team's 73, with Pioske collecting 20 and McDonough finishing with 18.

LAST TIME OUT
Last week, Concordia extended their NSIC winning streak to 17 with a pair of road wins as they have not lost a match in league play since Oct. 14, 2016.

The Golden Bears have gone unbeaten in NSIC road contests for almost two seasons with 19 straight wins since falling at Northern State back on Oct. 16, 2015. Concordia stifled their opponents as they allowed just a .153 hitting percentage while hitting .246 themselves on the weekend.

Brooklyn Lewis was dominant offensively for the Golden Bears with an impressive 5.43 kills per set (38 total kills) to go along with a .361 hitting percentage on the weekend. Elizabeth Mohr grabbed a pair of double-doubles with 14.14 assists per set (99 total blocks) and 2.86 digs per set (20 total digs) in CSP's two wins.

IN THE POLLS
After sitting in the top spot in the first two AVCA Polls, CSP has ranked #2 over the past four weeks after falling to now-#1 SMSU in the Colorado Premier Challenge title match. 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 four 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 ranking third and first, respectively, in total assists as she amassed an average of 13.18 assists per set while tallying 659 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 3.67 kills per set rank seventh in the league. Lewis has been even better in conference play as her 4.19 kills per set in league contests rank second in the NSIC.

Tori Hanson rounds out the group as she ranks ninth in the league with 4.18 digs per set.