ST. PAUL, Minn. - The #1 Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (13-2, 7-0 NSIC) opens the weekend with a huge matchup at third-ranked Northern State (14-1, 6-1 NSIC) on Friday before traveling to MSU Moorhead (9-5, 5-2 NSIC) on Saturday.

NORTHERN STATE SERIES HISTORY
Friday's meeting between the Golden Bears and the Wolves marks the 42nd time the two schools have met as CSP holds a record of 33-8 in the previous 41 meetings. The Golden Bears have dominated the series since 2003 as Concordia has won 31 of the past 32 meetings. NSU's lone win during that stretch came in a four-setter in Aberdeen back on Oct. 16, 2015. Only two of the last seven meetings have been decided in three sets with four going to five sets. In 16 road contests in the series, Concordia has gone 11-5.

LAST MEETING VS NSU
Back on Nov. 3, 2017, then-#1 CSP stormed back to win the final three sets to stun #then-7 Northern State in five sets on Friday night at Gangelhoff Center. The Wolves took the first two sets 25-23 and 25-21 before CSP claimed the final three 28-26, 25-21 and 15-13.

The match featured a staggering 33 ties and 10 lead changes as none of the five sets were decided by more than four points. CSP once again made their points count on the night as they were out-hit .270 to .241 with both teams grabbing 75 kills in the match. NSU held a significant edge in the digs category with 104 compared to 83 for Concordia while the Golden Bears held a slight 10.0-9.5 edge in blocks.

Brooklyn Lewis et career high in kills as she matched or bested her previous career-best for the fourth match in a row. Lewis compiled 26 kills on a massive 59 swings for a .322 hitting percentage to go along with five blocks and five digs. Her 26 kills were the most by a Golden Bear since Anna Schlaak hammered out 34 kills on Sept. 5, 2015.
 
Elizabeth Mohr also flew past a career-best mark as she assisted on 66 of the team's 75 kills on the night. Her 66 assists were five more of her previous best set against Tampa on Sept. 2. Mohr also finished a dig shy of a double-double with nine digs as well as two blocks in the win.

MSU MOORHEAD SERIES HISTORY
The Golden Bears enter Saturday's meeting with the Dragons with a record of 29-8 in 37 previous meetings as CSP has controlled the series in recent history. Since 2001, Concordia has picked up 29 wins in the last 30, including 14 in a row since 2008. During that winning streak, the Golden Bears have only dropped three sets as they have collected sweeps in 11 of those contests. In 16 all-time meetings in Moorhead, Concordia has gone 13-3.

LAST MEETING VS MSUM
In last year's meeting on Nov. 4, 2017, the Golden Bears claimed a share of the NSIC regular season crown with a sweep of MSU Moorhead at Gangelhoff Center.

It was an all-around dominant performance for the Golden Bears as they finished with a .388 hitting percentage with 51 kills while the Dragons were held to just .074 hitting with 22 kills in the match. CSP hit over .250 in all three sets, including a massive .500 mark in the third while MSU Moorhead was held to .152 or below in all three set. Concordia also managed to lead in digs (53-34), blocks (6.0-4.0) and service aces (5-3) in the match.

On Senior Day, Concordia's two senior hitters led the way offensively as Mariya Sampson paced all players with 14 kills on just 26 swings to hit .500 while Shelby Seurer added 11 kills with an even better .611 hitting percentage in the win. Taylor Schile, CSP's third senior, also saw some action and picked up a dig.

LAST TIME OUT
Last weekend, the Golden Bears picked up two big wins over USF and SMSU to stay unbeaten in NSIC play and extend their winning streak to 10 in a row.

Concordia's offense was dominant over the two matches as the team collected an impressive 15.25 kills per set (122-35-298) with a .292 hitting percentage. CSP also controlled play on the serve as they delivered 18 service aces (2.25 per set) while holding their opponents to five (0.62 per set).
 
Tori Hanson had a historic weekend as she set career highs with 34 digs and 10 assists in the win over SMSU while averaging an impressive 6.25 digs per set (50 total) on the weekend. Erin Fallert and Hope Schiller did a little bit of everything for the Golden Bears as Fallert averaged 3.50 kills and 2.50 digs per set with a .303 hitting percentage while Schiller had 3.25 kills, 2.75 digs and 0.75 aces per set.

IN THE POLLS
After opening the season in the top spot in the AVCA Preseason Poll, CSP returned to #1 in the rankings this week after spending the previous few weeks at #2 and #3. 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 83 weeks at #1 since they debuted there in the 2004 preseason poll. Since the 2007 season, CSP has ranked #1 at least once every season.

STATISTICAL LEADERS
Heading into the weekend, the Golden Bears rank near the top in the country in several areas as a team and as individuals.

CSP currently leads the nation in assists per set at 14.21 and first in kills per set at 14.94. Elizabeth Mohr has played a big role in that success as her 12.92 assists per set also rank as best in the country. Mohr also sits in third in the NSIC with 0.42 aces per set, tied with Hope Schiller. Concordia also ranks seventh in hitting percentage with a .269 hitting percentage.

Brooklyn Lewis has led the way offensively as her 4.28 kills per set rank 12th in the nation (second in the NSIC) and her .376 hitting percentage ranks 28th (seventh in the NSIC). Sara Macek follows close behind in hitting percentage at .350, good for eighth in the conference.

Tori Hanson also ranks 46th in the country with 5.25 digs per set, ranking second in the NSIC, while also ranking ninth in the conference with 0.38 aces per set.