ST. PAUL, Minn. – The second-ranked Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (12-1, 5-0 NSIC) bounced back after dropping the first set to take down University of Mary (5-9, 1-4 NSIC) on Saturday afternoon at the Gangelhoff Center. The Marauders stormed to a 25-18 set win in the first before the Golden Bears took the final three 25-14, 25-13 and 25-17.
 
Concordia continued their dominance against the Marauders with their 17^th win in as many meetings in the series. U-Mary did make things interesting, however, as they took a set from CSP for only the second time ever and the first time since 2007.
 
The win moves the Golden Bears to 5-0 in conference play for the 12^th time in the past 15 seasons but just the third time in the past six as CSP matched their streak of five in a row to start the NSIC season last year.
 
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 to give her double-digit digs in eight of her first 10 matches of her career. Erin Fallert added seven digs while pacing all players with a career-best four service aces.
 
Brooklyn Lewis matched Schiller in kills as she also put up 14 kills while putting up an efficient .417 hitting percentage in the process. The duo was joined by Mariya Sampson and her 12 kills in double figures while Sampson also added three blocks.
 
Elizabeth Mohr was once again at the helm guiding the offense as she picked up 53 digs to go along with three digs and two service aces.
 
Lauren Randall provided a bright spot for the Marauders with a match-best 17 kills as well as 10 digs for the double-double while Geovana Almeida added 12 digs in the loss.
 
The Marauders set the tone for the opening set from the first point as they quickly grabbed the first four points to take the lead for good. U-Mary wasted little time doubling their lead as they answered CSP's first point of the match with five more to extend their advantage to eight at 9-1. The Golden Bears managed to slow the momentum from there but were unable to string together more than a couple points in a row in an effort to get back in it. Concordia closed the gap to five at 15-10 and remained within that margin at 23-18, but the Marauders took the final two points to win the set 25-18.
 
The second set was nearly the opposite as the first as the Golden Bears jumped ahead 4-2 to grab the decisive advantage early in the set to even things up. The lead was just three at 9-6 before a 3-0 run gave CSP some breathing room. Concordia continued to grow their advantage as it hit double figures at 22-12 before hitting the largest margin in the set with a final score of 25-14.
 
After an early 3-3 tie in the third set, CSP took control with seven of the next eight points to build another comfortable advantage at 10-4. The two teams traded points until the 16-10 mark before the Golden Bears put it out of reach with another run, this time a 7-0 burst, to make it 23-10. The Marauders responded with a few late points before Concordia put it away at 25-13 to take a 2-1 edge in the match.
 
The Marauders took a 4-2 lead early in the fourth, but a 6-0 run for Concordia put the Golden Bears right back in front at 8-4. The lead hovered between three and six for much of the rest of the set before a late push ballooned the lead to as many as eight, first at 21-13. That would be the final margin of victory as CSP won the set 25-17 to pick up the four-set win.
 
CSP hits the road for the next two weekends starting off with a pair of matches next weekend at MSU Moorhead and #19 Northern State.