SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The top-ranked Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (21-6, 15-3 NSIC) were defeated in straight sets (15-25, 19-25, 23-25) by Sioux Falls (18-8, 13-5 NSIC) on Saturday afternoon in their final regular season road match.
 
For the first time since September 2010, the Golden Bears dropped back-to-back matches in the same season as they dropped both matches on the weekend. The loss also snapped a 10 match winning streak over USF as the Cougars picked up their first win in the series since 1999.
 
The Golden Bears head into the final weekend of the regular season in a three-way tie for first in the NSIC with CSP, Northern State and Minnesota Duluth all even at 15-3 in league play. Things get even more interesting with Southwest Minnesota State one game back at 14-4 while USF sits two back at 13-5.
 
Sioux Falls overmatched the Golden Bears with a dominant offensive performance as they compiled an impressive .456 hitting percentage with 48 kills and just seven errors on 90 swings. The .456 mark is the highest opponent hitting percentage during coach Starkey's tenure as head coach at CSP. The last time Concordia saw an opponent register a mark above .400 came back in the Central Region Championship against Wayne State on Dec. 5, 2015.
 
The USF defense was also solid as they held Concordia to their second lowest hitting percentage of the year at .177 as CSP had 37 kills and 20 errors on 96 attempts in the loss.
 
Hope Schiller and Brooklyn Lewis were the top producers in the attack for the Golden Bears as Schiller finished with 13 kills and seven digs while Lewis added 11 kills.
 
Bria Barfnecht was dominant for the Cougar as she led all players with 15 kills while registering a .750 hitting percentage in the win. Averey Yakisch chipped in 10 kills and eight digs as well while Krista Goerger dished out 42 assists in the win.
 
The Cougars wasted little time building a lead as they opened the match with five of the first seven points. The Golden Bears managed to cut the deficit to one at 8-7, but a 7-2 run for USF pushed the lead out to six at 15-9. Sioux Falls extended it to nine at 20-11 before taking the set by a double digit margin at 25-15.
 
Concordia built a 5-3 lead in the second, but USF quickly regained the momentum with six of the next seven to make it 9-6 in their favor. The Cougars held a small edge throughout much of the middle of the set before another run, this time a 6-2 burst, turned a 15-13 lead to a 21-15 lead. Sioux Falls kept the lead at four or more the rest of the set as they jumped out to a 2-0 lead with a 25-19 set win.
 
After an even start early in the third, Sioux Falls once again took control as they rattled off four in a row to take an 11-7 lead. Another 3-0 run midway through the set gave the Cougars their largest lead of the set at 16-11, but Concordia turned things around with eight of 10 to jump ahead 19-18. CSP eventually took a two point lead at 22-20, but managed just one more point as a 5-1 run finished off the sweep for USF with a 25-23 set win in the third.
 
CSP finishes off the regular season at home next weekend as they play host to Augustana on Friday and Wayne State on Saturday.