MINOT, N.D. – The fifth-ranked Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (14-4, 8-2 NSIC) returned to the win column with a four-set win (25-15, 25-21, 21-25, 25-16) over Minot State (1-18, 0-10 NSIC) on Friday night in NSIC action.
 
The Golden Bears dropped a set to the Beavers for just the second time in series history, but they improved to 10-0 in the all-time series.
 
Concordia's offense proved to be effective in the sets they won as they hit .324 or better in the first, second and fourth sets while being held to .146 in the third. Overall, the team finished at .280 (61-14-168) while the Beavers finished the match at .196 (44-15-148). Concordia also won the serving battle with eight aces compared to two for Minot State while they also won the blocking battle with 7.0 blocks compared to 1.0 for MiSU.
 
Setter Payton Nutter spread the looks around fairly evenly as CSP had four different players pick up between nine and 16 digs. Nutter fell just one dig shy of a double-double with 50 assists and nine digs on the night.
 
The duo of Erin Fallert and Sara Macek combined for nearly half of the team's kills as Fallert led the team with 16 kills and Macek added 14 of her own. Fallert hit a solid .378 to go along with 10 digs while Macek was even more efficient with a mark of .483. Jasmine Mulvihill also filled the box score with 13 kills, nine digs, three blocks and two aces on the night.
 
Shelby Spuller led the way with 15 kills for the Beavers while setter Mackenzie Froehlich contributed a double-double with 31 assists and 11 digs.
 
CSP wasted little time jumping out to a commanding lead in the opening set as they quickly turned a 3-3 tie into a 10-3 lead with a 7-0 run. Concordia continued to pour it on as they extended the lead to double figures at 18-8 before growing it to as many as a dozen at 22-10. 10 points proved to be the final margin as CSP took the set 25-15.
 
It was more of the same to start set number two as Concordia erased a 2-0 deficit with 11 of the next 15 to take an 11-6 lead. The lead grew to six at 13-7, but Minot State managed to shrink the gap back to one with a 6-1 run of their own. The Golden Bears would not relinquish the lead, however, as they continued to maintain a small edge until the final few points. The Beavers remained within one as later a 21-20, but four of the final five went to CSP as they took a 2-0 lead in the match with a 25-21 set win.
 
The Beavers turned things around in the third as they scored three of the first four points before leading pretty much the rest of the way. Concordia tied it up at 4-4 but that proved to be the final time the score was tied in the set as Minot State controlled play with a slim lead throughout. That lead grew to as many as five at 17-12 before they settled with 25-21 set win to force a fourth set.
 
After an early 4-4 tie in the fourth, the Golden Bears regained control with six of seven to double up the Beavers at 10-5. With the lead still at four at 16-12, Concordia created some separation with five straight and seven of eight before finishing off the match by taking the fourth set 25-16.
 
Concordia wraps up their three-game road trip tomorrow afternoon in Bismarck, N.D. as they take on UMary at 2 p.m.