ST. PAUL, Minn. - The #1 Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (24-2, 17-1 NSIC) will look to grab the NSIC regular season title outright this weekend as they travel to U-Mary (8-19, 4-14 NSIC) on Friday and Minot State (5-22, 1-17 NSIC) on Saturday to close out the regular season.

A LOOK AT THE NSIC
With the Golden Bears needing just a win this weekend to clinch their 14th conference crown over the past 15 years, CSP would also guarantee the top spot in the NSIC Tournament with that win. With that win, Concordia would face the #8 seed in the league in the opening round of the NSIC Tournament and would host the semifinals and finals if they were able to advance past the opening round. Upper Iowa, Augustana and Wayne State all currently sit in a three-way tie for sixth, meaning CSP will likely see one of those three teams in the first round.

U-MARY SERIES HISTORY
Heading into Friday,the Golden Bears have gone a perfect 17-0 in the all-time series against the Marauders. Concordia has dominated the series as they have swept 15 of the 17 meetings overall. Prior to a four-setter earlier this season, the only meeting that didn't end in a sweep was a five-set win for CSP in Bismarck on Sept. 28, 2007.

LAST MEETING VS MARY
Back on Sept. 23, Concordia bounced back after dropping the first set to take down University of Mary.

After struggling to the tune of a .133 hitting percentage while seeing the Marauders hit .258 in the opening set, the match completely shifted in Concordia's favor from there. CSP finished the night at .308 as they hit .286 or better in each of the final three sets while U-Mary topped out at .130 to finish at .138 for the match. In addition to the shift in hitting efficiency, serving also played a big role in the match. U-Mary collected four service aces compared to none for CSP in the first, but the Golden Bears managed an 8-7 edge overall in the match while committing less service errors (5-7).

Hope Schiller put together an all-around performance to help lead Concordia to victory as she tied for the team lead with 14 kills while falling one dig shy of a match high with 16 to pick up her fourth double-double of the season. In addition, Schiller chipped in two service aces as well as a pair of blocks in the win. In the digs column, it was freshman Tori Hanson that edged out Schiller as she led all players with 17 digs while Brooklyn Lewis matched Schiller with 14 kills in the win.

MINOT STATE SERIES HISTORY
Saturday marks the eighth meeting in the all-time series with Minot State as the Golden Bears have won the first seven meetings. All seven previous meetings have come since Minot State joined the NSIC with CSP claiming sweeps in six of the seven. The Beavers claimed their only set win in the series in a match in Minot back on Oct. 25, 2013.

LAST MEETING VS MINOT
At Gangelhoff Center on Sept. 22, the Golden Bears battled through a slow start, but were able to persist for a straight-set victory over Minot State.

Minot State competed with CSP the entire night. Although Minot led by as many as four in that opening set, there would be only one tie and one lead change. In sets two and three, the teams jostled with six ties and three lead changes.

Concordia was able to hit .330 as a team behind the setting from junior Elizabeth Mohr who spread out 33 assists on the night. Sophomore middle blocker Sara Macek had a big night for the Bears, hammering 12 kills in 16 swings with just one error (.688).

Three Golden Bear hitters terminated at a .400 or better clip as juniors outside hitters Brooklyn Lewis and Hope Schiller each had nine kills while hitting .467 and .400. Collectively with Macek, the trio had just four errors on 51 swings with 30 kills. Schiller also produced a match-high 16 digs and had a pair of aces.

LAST TIME OUT
Concordia claimed at least a share of their 14th NSIC regular season title in 15 seasons under head coach Brady Starkey in Saturday's win over MSUM after also claiming a dramatic five-set win over #7 NSU on Friday.

CSP came back from down two sets to none for the first time since Oct. 7, 2016 in Friday's win over NSU as they picked up their ninth win over a ranked opponent this year. The Golden Bears finished the week with 15.42 kills per set and a .281 hitting percentage compared to 12.17 kills per set and a .210 hitting percentage for their opponent.

Brooklyn Lewis put together another huge week with a team-leading 58 kills (4.83 per set) on a .296 hitting percentage to go along with 10 blocks (0.83 per set). Elizabeth Mohr tallied 13.42 assists per set (161 total assists) as well as 2.33 digs per set (28 total digs) and 0.25 aces per set (3 total aces).

IN THE POLLS
After sitting in the top spot in the first two AVCA Polls, CSP returned to the top spot last week after knocking off then-#1 SMSU last weekend. 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 79 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 week, Concordia has gotten production from throughout their lineup with six different players that rank near the top of the NSIC in six different statistical categories this year.
 
Setter Elizabeth Mohr leads the way in that regard as she leads the nation in assists per set while also ranking third in total assists as she amassed an average of 13.36 assists per set while tallying 1122 assists overall heading into the week.
 
The Golden Bears' Sara Macek ranks fourth in the league with a .401 hitting percentage while Sydney Book follows close behind in fifth at .390. Shelby Seurer gives CSP a third member of the squad inside the top-10 in hitting percentage in eighth with a mark of .352. While Macek, Seurer and Book have led the way in hitting percentage, Brooklyn Lewis has been the go-to hitter for the Golden Bears as her 4.00 kills per set rank fourth in the league while her 4.27 points per set rank seventh as well. Lewis has been even better in conference play as her 4.37 kills per set in league contests rank second in the NSIC.
 
Freshmen Erin Fallert and Tori Hanson round out the group as Fallert ranks seventh in the league with 0.36 aces while Hanson ranks ninth with 4.19 digs per set.