ST. PAUL, Minn. – The third-ranked Concordia Golden Bears volleyball team (8-2, 2-0 NSIC) returns to action with a mid-week contest at Minnesota State (9-1, 2-0 NSIC) on Tuesday night at 6 p.m.
MINNESOTA STATE SERIES HISTORY
The Golden Bears enter Tuesday night's meeting with the Mavericks with a 28-4 record in 32 previous matchups. While Concordia has dominated on their home court with a record of 14-0, CSP has also had success in Mankato as they have claimed 11 wins in 14 trips. Concordia has been especially successful in recent years in the series as they have registered 10 consecutive wins dating back to the 2014 season. MSU's last win in the series came back on Sept. 16, 2014 in a four-setter in Mankato.
LAST MEETING VS MSU
Back on Oct. 31, 2017, the Golden Bears bounced back from a 25-23 defeat in the first set to win the final three sets 25-21, 25-14 and 25-21 at Minnesota State.
Concordia finished with a .266 hitting percentage as they saved their best for last with a .364 mark in the fourth set. The Mavericks finished with a .215 hitting percentage on the night as CSP also registered in with 10 more kills than MSU at 59-49. Concordia also managed advantages of 74-56 in digs, 5-4 in service aces and 7.0-6.0 in total blocks on the night.
For the third match in a row,
Brooklyn Lewis either matched or surpassed her career best in kills as she collected a match-high 21 kills with a .317 hitting percentage. Joining Lewis in double figures were
Mariya Sampson with 14 kills and
Shelby Seurer with 10. Seurer led the team with a .471 hitting percentage as she committed just two errors on her 17 swings.
Hope Schiller fell a kill shy of a double-double with nine kills while she also matched
Tori Hanson with a match-best 17 digs in the win.
Elizabeth Mohr added 50 assists and 15 digs for a massive double-double while
Taylor Soine also hit double digits with 11 digs.
LAST TIME OUT
Las week, the Golden Bears improved to 15-1 in NSIC openers under
Brady Starkey with the sweep of UIU on Thursday before grabbing another sweep in the home opener against WSU on Saturday.
CSP averaged an impressive 15.2 kills per set (91 total) and a .277 hitting percentage while holding their opponents to 11.67 kills per set (70 total) and a .159 hitting percentage. Concordia also managed a 10-4 edge in service aces, a 13.0-10.0 edge in total blocks and a 117-112 edge in digs on the weekend.
Brooklyn Lewis put up a huge weekend with 6.00 kills per set (36 total) and a .470 hitting percentage, capped off by an incredible 22-kill performance in the sweep of WSU. Her efforts earned her NSIC Offensive Player of the Week honors.
Elizabeth Mohr assisted on 81 of the team's 92 kills (13.67 per set) while also pacing the team with five service aces (0.83 per set).
Tori Hanson dug up a team-best 6.33 digs per set (38 total digs) on the weekend to anchor CSP's back row in their two sweeps.
IN THE POLLS
After opening the season in the top spot in the AVCA Preseason Poll, CSP dropped to #3 in the rankings this week after spending the past two weeks at #2. Concordia has been a mainstay near the top of the poll for over a decade as they haven't ranked outside the top-10 since 2003 and have spent just one week outside the top-5 since October 2012. The Golden Bears have spent an incredible 82 weeks at #1 since they debuted there in the 2003 preseason poll. Since the 2007 season, CSP has ranked #1 at least once every season.
CHASING 1,000
Heading into Tuesday night's match, senior outside hitter
Hope Schiller sits just three digs shy of 1,000 in her career with 997. Schiller would become the 18
th player in program history to reach the mark and the first since Kasey Williams, Anna Schlaak and Emily McDonough all did it in 2016.
