ST. PAUL, Minn. – The third-ranked Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (21-4, 15-1 NSIC) picked up a crucial NSIC victory as they defeated seventh-ranked Minnesota Duluth (20-5, 13-3 NSIC) in four sets (25-23, 22-25, 25-19, 25-16) on Saturday night at Gangelhoff Center.
 
Concordia's win, coupled with Northern State's loss earlier today against Southwest Minnesota State, moved the Golden Bears into sole possession of first place in the NSIC with just four regular season matches to go. CSP moved a game ahead of NSU while UMD fell two games off the pace and SMSU remained three behind.
 
In addition to the impact on the conference standings, the Golden Bears evened the season series with the Bulldogs as they bounced back from the sweep on the road just over two weeks ago to knock off UMD in four on their home court. The win was CSP's 21^st in the past 30 meetings against UMD as they closed the gap back to two in the all-time series at 26-28.
 
While it was the Bulldogs' offense that stole the show in the first meeting of the season, it was Concordia's that proved to be the difference tonight. CSP hammered out a .313 hitting percentage with 15.50 kills per set (62 total kills) as five different hitters registered at least nine kills. The Golden Bears also took advantage with an aggressive serve as they tallied eight service aces compared to just two for UMD. Minnesota Duluth wasn't far behind offensively as they had 58 kills and a .265 hitting percentage while doubling up the Golden Bears in blocks at 10.0-5.0.
 
 
Elizabeth Mohr made sure to get everyone involved in the CSP attack as she spread her 52 assists out fairly evenly while finishing off the double-double with 12 digs. She also chipped in a pair of blocks, a pair of aces and a pair of kills as she did a little bit of everything in the win.
 
Sydney Book finished as the top producer in kills for Concordia with 15 while Brooklyn Lewis followed close behind with 13 kills and a career-best 14 digs for her second consecutive double-double.
 
Freshman Kennedy Brady added perhaps her finest performance of her young career as she contributed a career-high 12 kills while not committing an error on the night to put up a .545 hitting percentage. She also led the team with three blocks as well. Fellow middle Sara Macek was nearly as efficient with 11 kills and just one error for a .476 hitting percentage.
 
For the Bulldogs, Makenzie Morgen was the focal point of the offense as she led all players with 19 while also digging up a team-best 13 digs. Sarah Kelly added 12 kills and four blocks in the loss.
 
Concordia delivered the first blow as they used a quick 4-0 run to build a 7-2 lead in the first set. The lead reached six at 12-6 following three straight points from CSP and remained there until the 15-9 mark before the Bulldogs started to close the gap. A 5-1 run in favor of UMD shrunk it to two before three straight several points later put Minnesota Duluth in front at 22-21. The lead would be short-lived as four of the final five points went to the Golden Bears as they won the set 25-23.
 
The second set featured six ties through the first 12 points before UMD rattled off three in a row to build a 9-6 edge. The Golden Bears trimmed the deficit to one on five different occasions throughout the rest of the set, but they were unable to get over the hump as it proved to be the decisive advantage for the Bulldogs. CSP found themselves within a point as late as 18-17 before a 4-1 run gave Minnesota Duluth their largest lead of the set. Concordia pulled back within two at 22-20, 23-21 and again at 24-22, but the Bulldogs finished off the set at 25-22 to tie up the match at 1-1 after two.
 
The third set proved to be a turning point in the match as the Golden Bears turned an early deficit into a crucial set win. UMD strung together an impressive 6-0 burst to put Concordia in a 7-3 hole as they looked to pick up where they left off in the second. CSP once again battled back to within one but saw Minnesota Duluth repel the advances as they maintained a three point lead at 12-9. The Golden Bears took control from there with three in a row to tie it and seven of eight to take a three point lead of their own at 16-13. Concordia continued to add to their lead for much the rest of the way as the lead hit five at 19-14 before growing to as many as six at the final margin of 25-19.
 
It was another fairly even start to the fourth set as the margin remained one at the 10-9 mark as CSP held a slim lead before taking over. The next three points and five of six put the Golden Bears out front 15-10 as they held a lead of three or more for the duration of the set. With the lead at four at 19-15, Concordia put the exclamation point on the win with five straight points and six of seven to complete the four set win with a 25-16 win in the fourth.
 
Concordia faces another tough test next weekend as they hit the road to face #16 Southwest Minnesota State on Friday and Sioux Falls on Saturday. The Golden Bears then return home the following weekend to close out the regular season with Augustana and Wayne State coming to town.