BISMARCK, N.D. – The #5 Concordia Golden Bears volleyball team (15-4, 9-2 NSIC) cruised to a sweep (25-12, 25-16, 25-15) of the University of Mary (1-19, 0-11 NSIC) on Saturday afternoon.
Concordia continued their dominance of the Marauders as they improved to 20-0 in the all-time series, making it 18 sweeps in the process.
It was an all-around impressive showing for CSP as they held a massive 50-28 edge in kills while tallying hitting percentages of .310 or better in each set to finish the day at .390, marking a season-best in that category. The previous best for the Golden Bears this season was a .349 mark against Valdosta State back on Sept. 7. Concordia was especially solid in each of the final two sets as they picked up 18 kills in the second before registering 19 in the third.
The Golden Bear defense also held the Marauders to .235 or below in all three sets as they finished at .165. CSP also collected a 53-42 edge in digs to go along with an 8-0 edge in service aces.
Concordia had three different hitters register at least 11 kills while hitting .333 or above as the trio led the way offensively.
Jasmine Mulvihill contributed a match-best 15 kills and a .448 hitting percentage while adding seven digs, two aces and two blocks in the win.
Erin Fallert added a double-double with 13 kills and 11 digs while
Katie Mattson put up a career-high 11 kills as well.
Fallert was joined in double figures in digs with
Payton Nutter and
Tori Hanson as both finished with 12 apiece. Nutter also contributed 40 assists while Hanson added three aces.
The Golden Bears quickly jumped out to a lead with a 9-3 run to start the match and they steadily increased it from there. With the lead still at five at 15-10, CSP put it out of reach from there as they allowed just two points the rest of the set as they rolled to an impressive 25-12 set win in the first.
It was more of the same in the second set as CSP opened with six of the first eight and nine of the first 12 to build an early advantage. The Marauders closed the gap back to three at 10-7, but that would be all the closer they would get as the lead was out to eight at 18-10. Concordia remained comfortably in control the rest of the way as they went on to win the set 25-16 to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
UMary opened the scoring with the first point in the third set, but that proved to be their only lead as CSP grabbed the lead with a 7-1 run from there. The Marauders remained within two at 11-9 before the Golden Bears put it out of reach with another 7-1 burst to make it 18-10. Concordia's lead reached double figures at 22-12 as they went on to win by the same margin at 25-15.
Concordia returns home next weekend as MSU Moorhead and #6 Northern State come to town.
