ST. PAUL, Minn. – The seventh-ranked Concordia Golden Bears volleyball team (16-4, 10-2 NSIC) got the weekend off to a great start as they swept MSU Moorhead (8-12, 3-9 NSIC) on Pink Night at Gangelhoff Center. CSP took the first set 25-15 before taking the second 25-21 and the third 25-14 in the win.
 
Concordia made it 16 wins in a row against MSU Moorhead as they won their 31^st in the last 32 meetings to improve to 31-8 in the all-time series.
 
The Golden Bear offense put together their best effort of the season as they hit an impressive .379 on the night as they collected 43 kills with just 10 errors on 87 attempts. Their defense was also effective as they held MSU Moorhead to .116 hitting with 27 kills and 17 errors on 86 swings. CSP also held massive 10.0-0.0 edge in blocks as well as an 8-1 edge in aces in the win.
 
The youth shined in Concordia's offense as Jasmine Mulvihill and Katie Mattson each reached double figures with 10 kills in the win. Mulvihill added 10 digs and three blocks for the double-double while Mattson fell one kill shy of her career best while hitting an impressive .474.
 
Sara Macek added an efficient offensive performance with eight kills and a .500 hitting percentage to go along with six blocks while Kennedy Brady chipped in seven kills. Payton Nutter finished with 36 assists while Erin Fallert had 10 digs as well as a pair of aces and Hanson chipped in seven digs as well as three aces.
 
Elise Bakke topped the Dragons with seven kills on 12 swings while Brooke Walthall added eight digs in the loss.
 
The Golden Bears led nearly from wire to wire in the opening set as they opened on a 4-1 run before adding to their lead as the set went on. MSUM shrunk the margin to one at 5-4 and remained within a few points before a 3-0 run in their favor evened the score at 13-13. The momentum shifted quickly from there as CSP grabbed the next three in a row and nine of 10 to take a 22-14 lead. Concordia added three more points to the run following a point from the Dragons as they took the first set 25-15.
 
The run carried over into the second set as CSP got things started with the first four points and seven of the first eight to build a healthy advantage. The two teams spent much of the rest of the set trading points as the lead sat between four and seven until the final few points when the Dragons put a little bit of pressure on the Golden Bears. MSUM trimmed the gap to three at 20-17 and remained within striking distance the rest of the way, but they were unable to get any closer as Concordia took the set 25-21 to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
Another early run put the Golden Bears in front in the third as they used a 7-1 run to turn a 2-2 tie into a 9-3 lead in the opening moments of the set. The CSP lead would not shrink below four the rest of the way as Concordia eventually pushed the advantage out to double figures late. With the Dragons still within five at 18-13, the Golden Bears finished on a 7-1 run to win the set 25-14 and the match 3-0.
 
Concordia remains at home tomorrow night with a 5 p.m. start against #3 Northern State.