MINOT, N.D. – The top-ranked Concordia Golden Bear volleyball team (26-2, 19-1 NSIC) finished off the regular season with a sweep of Minot State (5-24, 1-19 NSIC) on Saturday afternoon. CSP took the three sets 25-17, 25-16 and 25-11.
The Golden Bears matched their best finish in league play since the squad went a perfect 20-0 for three straight years from 2008-10. CSP had gone 18-2 in each of the last three seasons since matching this season's total with 19 wins in 2013.
With Concordia claiming the top spot in the NSIC Tournament, they will host eighth-seeded #22 Wayne State in the opening round at Gangelhoff Center this Wednesday night at 6 p.m.
Concordia remained unbeaten in the all-time series against the Beavers in eight meetings as they picked up their seventh sweep in that span. CSP also extended their streak to 11 straight wins overall to end the regular season.
The Golden Bears' high-powered offense was too much for Minot State as they compiled a massive .482 hitting percentage with 47 kills and just seven errors on 83 attempts on the day. CSP hit at least .417 in all three sets while the Beavers were held below .100 in two of the three sets, finishing at .111 in the match. In addition to their dominance offensively, Concordia also held a 5-2 edge in service aces, a 4.0-1.0 edge in blocks and a 33-25 edge in digs as well.
Elizabeth Mohr spread the ball around throughout the match as five different hitters finished with between six and 12 kills as Mohr tallied 40 assists and eight digs in the win. The junior setter finished league play with league-best 13.45 assists per set in the 20 NSIC matches.
The leading beneficiary was
Brooklyn Lewis as she grabbed a match-best 12 kills to go along with a solid .478 hitting percentage. The total pushed her average to 4.16 kills per set in conference play to finish in third in the NSIC.
Shelby Seurer added 10 kills on just 12 attempts for an incredible .833 hitting percentage while Sydney Book chipped in 10 more kills with a .444 hitting percentage.
The Beavers got off to a strong start in the first set with five of the first seven points, but the Golden Bears quickly answered back with the next six in a row to take the lead for good at 8-5. Concordia slowly padded their lead from there as it reached five at 12-7 after a 3-0 run and seven at 18-11 after another 3-0 burst. The advantage grew to as many as 10 at 24-14 before a late run cut the final margin to 25-17.
CSP grabbed the first three points in the second set as they took control early, pushing their edge to six at 12-6. Minot State managed to cut that lead in half with three in a row, but the Golden Bears quickly shifted the momentum back in their favor with an extended 10-3 run to push it to double figures at 22-12. Another late push cut it back to single digits before the Golden Bears finished off the set at 25-16.
After an even start to the third, CSP strung together five straight points to take control with an 11-5 lead. The Beavers remained within four at 14-10 before another run, this time a 7-0 run, pushed it out to 11 at 21-10. Minot State scored one to stop that streak, but Concordia responded with the final four points to complete the sweep with a 25-11 set win in the third.
