CROOKSTON, Minn. – The #4 Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (19-4, 13-1 NSIC) bounced from a first-set loss to defeat Minnesota Crookston (4-18, 2-12 NSIC) in four sets (19-25, 25-15, 25-12, 25-11) on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Golden Bears extended their winning streak to five with the win while they also picked up their 32^nd straight win over the Golden Eagles. The win moved CSP to 32-3 in the all-time series with UMC, including 15-1 in Crookston.
 
Concordia doubled up UMC 62-31 in the kills department with a significant .374-.152 edge in hitting percentage with a balanced offensive attack. CSP added a 54-34 advantage in digs as well as a 7-3 advantage in blocks and an 8-6 advantage in service aces as they led in nearly every statistical category. The Golden Bears were especially dominant in the final three sets, hitting .344 or better in all three, including marks of .448 or better in two of the three while holding Minnesota Crookston to .125 or below in each.
 
CSP's 15.50 kills per set were evenly spread out throughout the lineup as five different hitters registered in double figures in kills. Elizabeth Mohr played a major role in getting the entire offense involved as she tallied 54 assists (13.50 per set) while also adding nine digs, three aces and two blocks in an all-around performance.
 
Brooklyn Lewis stepped forward with an efficient effort as she led all players with 16 kills on just 24 attempts to compile a .542 hitting percentage while pulling within 80 kills of 1,000 in her career. She also added a career-best nine digs as well as an ace.
 
Not to be outdone, Kennedy Brady was even more efficient as 11 of her 16 swings resulted in kills, giving her career highs in both in her young career. CSP's other middle, Sara Macek, was also solid, collecting 12 kills and a .474 hitting percentage and five blocks in the win.
 
Hope Schiller cleared double figures in both kills and assists to pick up the double-double as she finished with 10 kills and a match-leading 15 digs while Sydney Book chipped in 11 kills and Tori Hanson added 10 digs.
 
Porsha Porath was the lone Golden Eagle in double figures in kills with 11 while no UMC player picked up more than seven digs in the loss.
 
The first set proved to be a difficult one for the Golden Bears as both teams traded points early to give UMC a 7-6 lead. From there, a huge 8-0 run for Minnesota Crookston put CSP in a deep 15-6 hole midway through the set. Concordia closed the gap with four straight points in response before cutting it to four at 18-14 and again at 19-15, but the Golden Eagles held off the CSP run. A 4-1 run for UMC pushed the lead back to seven before they closed it out at 25-19.
 
Concordia turned the tables to open the second set with seven of eight points to jump ahead 7-2 early on. Five straight for the Golden Eagles tied the score at 7-7, but the Golden Bears answered right back with 6-0 run to go up 13-7. With the lead still at six at 16-10, CSP rattled off four in a row to push the lead to double figures at 20-10. 10 proved to be the largest lead of the set as Concordia finished off at the same margin at 25-15 to even the match at 1-1.
 
CSP jumped out front 4-1 to start the third, but UMC quickly pulled back even at 6-6. The tie was short-lived as an 8-1 run turned it into a 14-7 lead for the Golden Bears. A few points later, Concordia put together another big run, this time a 9-2 burst to put it out of reach at 23-10 before taking the set 25-12.
 
A quick start in the fourth set gave the Golden Bears some breathing room as they scored the first five points to take the lead for good. With the Golden Eagles back within three at 6-3, another 5-0 run ballooned the lead to eight at 11-3. The advantage hit double digits at 16-5 before remaining in that range for much of the rest of the set. Concordia took their largest lead of the set at the final margin as they finished out on a 4-0 run to take it 25-11.
 
The Golden Bears return home next weekend with a Friday match against St. Cloud State and a Saturday match with Minnesota Duluth.