ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Seventh-ranked Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (11-3, 5-1 NSIC) returns home for homecoming weekend as they host ninth-ranked Southwest Minnesota State (11-3, 5-1 NSIC) on Friday at 6 p.m. and 24th-ranked Sioux Falls (11-3, 3-3 NSIC) on Saturday at 5 p.m.

NCAA SHOWCASE
Friday night's contest between the Golden Bears and Mustangs has been selected as a showcase match as part of the NCAA's hybrid model.
 
First serve is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. as two of the top teams in the nation square off at Gangelhoff Center. The Golden Bears head into the week ranked seventh in the country while Southwest Minnesota State sits in ninth.
 
The game can be seen on the NSIC Network, on the Division II, NSIC, Concordia-St. Paul and Southwest Minnesota State Facebook pages (pending your approval), on the DII Twitter page at @NCAADII and through the Periscope app at @NCAADII. The game will also be available in Concordia's video portal. The game will be produced by the NCAA's production partner, Niles Media Group.

HOMECOMING 2019
This Saturday's volleyball match between CSP and USF marks Concordia's homecoming with a 5 p.m. start following the noon football game at Sea Foam Stadium. Fans who have purchased a Homecoming wristband receive free admission to football and volleyball on Saturday, as well as Comet's Carnival which is open from 2-5 p.m. on the Sea Foam Stadium plaza. Perks for the wristband include unlimited rides and food! Prices are $25 for adults (21+), $10 for children (4-12) with children 3 and younger free. CSP students (with ID) will receive free admission. Register by midnight on Wednesday night at ave.csp.edu/homecoming2019, or purchase a wristband at the registration tent at Sea Foam Stadium on gameday.

SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA STATE SERIES HISTORY
The Golden Bears and Mustangs head into the weekend with an extensive history as Concordia has met SMSU more times than any other program on the volleyball court. In the previous 65 meetings, CSP holds an edge of 38-26-1 over Southwest Minnesota State with a 25-9 advantage in NSIC play. Concordia has found similar success both home and away in the series as they have gone 13-9 in Marshall compared to 19-12 in St. Paul. The two teams have been especially familiar with one another in the past few years with 12 meetings since the start of the 2016 season with the Golden Bears going 8-4 during that stretch.

LAST MEETING VS SMSU
Earlier this season on Sept. 14, the Golden Bears won the Colorado Premier Challenge for the seventh time as they knocked off Southwest Minnesota State in four sets (25-21, 22-25, 25-18, 30-28) in the title match.

In a rematch of last year's championship match, Concordia doubled down on the result with their second consecutive tournament title. In this year's iteration, it was a Golden Bear block party that led to the victory. CSP's 16.0 total blocks were the most in a match for the team since they tallied 18.0 at Minnesota Duluth on November 4, 2016. The total also tied for seventh-most in the DII-era at CSP in four-set matches, marking the best total since 2014.

Kennedy Brady played a major role in the CSP block as she set a new career high with nine blocks in the win. Her tally matched the best individual performance in a four-set match since Maria Steinhagen collected 14.0 blocks on November 10, 2016 at Wayne State. Jasmine Mulvihill, Sara Macek and Syndey Book each added five blocks in the victory as well. Mulvihill was also effective offensively with 15 kills on 30 swings (.300 hitting percentage) while Macek also reached double figures with 10. Erin Fallert made it back-to-back double-doubles on the day with 11 kills and 10 digs while Makenna Berger finished with 13 kills and seven digs.
 
Tori Hanson finished the tournament with a staggering 89 digs over the four matches, including 55 over the two matches on Saturday. She once again paced the field with 27 digs to go along with six assists in the championship. Hanson, Mulvihill, Brady and Fallert all earned All-Tournament Team honors for the squad for their performances.

SIOUX FALLS SERIES HISTORY
Saturday's meeting between the Golden Bears and Cougars marks the 16th all-time meeting between the two schools with CSP holding a 10-5 record in the 15 previous meetings. Since Sioux Falls joined the NSIC, Concordia won the first nine contests, including six sweeps, but USF has taken the last two meetings. CSP and USF have met  seven times in St. Paul heading into the weekend with Concordia claiming five wins in those seven matches.

LAST MEETING VS USF
In last year's NSIC Tournament, fourth-seeded Concordia fell to fifth-seeded Sioux Falls in the quarterfinal at Gangelhoff Center.

While the Golden Bears finished with a higher hitting percentage (.296-.264), more digs (59-50), an even number of blocks (6.0-6.0) and nearly as many kills (56-58), serving proved to be the difference as Sioux Falls finished with a large 9-3 edge in service aces. The whole team got into the act for the Cougars as six different players registered aces on the night.
 
In the loss, Hope Schiller put together a massive statistical night as she led the team with 17 kills and 18 digs to go along with three blocks as she hit .417. Brooklyn Lewis, Kennedy Brady and Leah Damerow all joined Schiller in double figures in kill with 10 apiece while Tori Hanson picked up 19 digs and Erin Fallert added 10. Elizabeth Mohr surpassed the 50-assist mark once again as she finished at 53.

Bria Barfnecht proved to be a handful for the Golden Bears for the second time in as many meetings as she led all players with 18 kills while committing just one error for a .531 hitting percentage. She also chipped in nine digs as well as two aces. Lexi Scott, Abby Feyereisen and Makenna Rockeman all reached double figures in kills as well for the Cougars.

LAST TIME OUT
Last weekend, the Golden Bears battled their way to a pair of big road wins as they grabbed a four-set win over Augustana on Friday before hanging on for a five-set win over #15 Wayne State on Saturday.

In the two wins, CSP held a massive advantage in kills as they collected 123 (13.67 per set) while holding their opponents to 78 (8.67 per set). The Golden Bears also held a significant 20-7 edge in service aces to go along with a 169-142 edge in digs over the weekend.

Erin Fallert continued to be an all-around force for the Golden Bears as she earned NSIC Defensive Player of the Week honors after averaging 5.33 digs and 3.89 kills per set. Her 33 digs in Saturday's win were the second-most in the 25-point scoring format at CSP. Jasmine Mulvihill also had a massive weekend, finishing with 4.00 kills per set and 3.67 digs per set. Her 23 kill, 21 dig effort on Saturday was the first 20-20 performance for CSP since 2011.

IN THE POLLS
For the third week in a row, the Golden Bears maintained their spot at #7 in the polls this week. 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 they have ranked outside the top-5 just eight weeks 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 heading into this year.

CLIMBING THE RANKS
After reaching the 1,000 career dig mark late in her sophomore season, junior libero Tori Hanson has started to move her way up in the career record book at Concordia. Hanson currently ranks ninth in DII-era history at CSP with 1,318 digs, sitting 45 shy of Megan Carlson in eighth. She isn't the only Golden Bear piling up career statistics as Erin Fallert sits 114 digs shy of 1,000 with 886 and Sara Macek sits 184 kills shy of 1,000 with 816.