ST. PAUL, Minn. – The #2 Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (3-1) remains on the road this weekend with two matches on Friday and two matches on Saturday at the Colorado Premier Challenge.
TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
The Golden Bears head back to Denver for their annual trip to the Colorado Premier Challenge. The tourney is co-hosted by MSU Denver and Regis, with both campuses hosting matches throughout the weekend. Concordia-St. Paul is scheduled to play both of their Friday matches at MSU Denver with a 12 p.m. start against Texas A&M-Commerce and a 7 p.m. match with MSU Denver.
Concordia enters the weekend as five-time championships of the Colorado Premier Challenge. CSP last claimed the crown in 2016 while they also took the top spot in 2008, 2009. 2011 and 2013.
In last season's trip to Colorado, CSP saw their winning streak snapped at 26 as they fell to then-#2 Southwest Minnesota State in the championship match on Sept. 9. CSP bounced back after dropping the first set 25-19 to win the second by the same score, but the Mustangs took the third set 25-22 and the fourth set 27-25.
The Golden Bears had five members of the squad named to the All-Tournament Team as
Elizabeth Mohr,
Brooklyn Lewis,
Sara Macek,
Tori Hanson and
Mariya Sampson were all selected. SMSU's Taylor Reiss was named Tournament MVP.
LAST TIME OUT
In the opening weekend of the season, the Golden Bears travelled to the Ferris State Volleyball Classic and won three of four matches. CSP claimed victories against Hillsdale and Wayne State (Mich.) before falling to then-#21 Ferris State. Concordia closed out the weekend with three-set win over Rollins.
One of the big highlights came in the opener as head coach
Brady Starkey registered his 500th career victory in the four-set win over Hillsdale. Incredibly, the 500th win came in just his 549th match at the helm for Concordia. CSP also moved to 14-2 all-time in season openers under Starkey.
As a team, the Golden Bears finished with a combined 14.85-9.77 kills per set edge as well as a .235-.159 hitting percentage edge on the weekend.
Brooklyn Lewis led the way offensively for the Golden Bears with 3.69 kills per set (48 total kills) while hitting .340 for the weekend.
Tori Hanson was a rock in the back row as she put up 5.31 digs per set (69 total digs) as well as 0.69 service aces per set (nine total aces) in CSP's four matches.
THE MATCHUPS
Concordia's first opponent of the weekend is a new one as the Golden Bears meet Texas A&M-Commerce. The Lions are a member of the Lone Star Conference that are coming off a season in which they went 21-12 overall and 15-5 in league play. This season, Texas A&M-Commerce bounced back from a season-opening loss with three wins in a row at the Tarleton Invitational.
The Golden Bears enter Friday night's contest with MSU Denver with a record of 5-0 against the Roadrunners. CSP has dominated the series by winning 15 of 17 sets as they have claimed three sweeps. Three of the previous five meetings have come in the Colorado Premier Challenge, including the last meeting back in 2015.
Live stats and webcast links will be available on the tournament website.
