DENVER, Colo. – The #10 Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (4-2) advanced to the Colorado Premier Challenge gold bracket semifinals with a sweep of #11 Ferris State (4-2) on Friday night on the campus of Regis University.
The Golden Bears will play for spot in the championship on Saturday morning at 10 a.m. against Regis, with the match scheduled to be played at MSU Denver.
CSP picked up where they left off in the in the first match of the day as they led nearly wire-to-wire in the three-set victory. The Golden Bears put up their second-best offensive performance of the season with a .277 hitting percentage while they also held their opponent below .200 hitting for the fourth time in the past five matches. The offense got better as the match went on as they improved from .159 in the first set to .343 in the second and .364 in the third. Concordia flashed some consistency by delivering at least 15 kills in all three sets. CSP also held the edge in digs for the fifth time in six matches with a 58-46 advantage.
Payton Nutter and
Ellie Veldman combined for 40 of the team's 43 assists as Nutter tallied her first career double-double with 24 assists and 12 digs while Veldman chipped in 16 assists. The duo spread the wealth for the Golden Bear offense as six different players registered between five and 11 kills.
Jasmine Mulvihill and
Sara Macek were the lone pair to reach double figures in kills as Mulvihill finished with 11 kills and Macek finished with 10. Mulvihill continued her solid start to her CSP career as she reached 11 or more kills for the fifth time in six tries, hitting .233 or better in each of the five.
The junior combo of
Erin Fallert and
Tori Hanson continued to carry the load defensively for the Golden Bears as Fallert paced the squad with 16 digs while Hanson followed close behind with 15. Both have reached 10+ digs in all but one match so far this season.
Lauren Helsen provided a bright spot for the Bulldogs with 16 digs while Katie O'Connell paced the offense with nine kills in the loss.
After the Bulldogs scored two of the first three points of the match, Concordia set the tone with an 8-2 run to pull ahead 9-4. The Golden Bears continued to hold off FSU throughout the middle portions of the set as the lead remained four or more until late. With the lead still at five at 22-17, Ferris State strung together a 7-2 burst, including back-to-back set points, to even the score at 24-24. CSP quickly turned the momentum back in their favor with two points in a row to win the set 26-24.
Ferris State took an early lead again in the second set with six of the first eight points, but CSP quickly pulled even with four straight the other way. The 6-6 tie was the third of 11 ties in the set as both teams jostled for the lead until a 3-0 run gave Concordia a 19-16 lead, which proved to be a lead they would not relinquish. FSU remained within two at 20-18, but the Golden Bears slammed the door from there with five in a row to win the set 25-18.
The momentum carried over into the third as Concordia opened with a 5-2 run to take the lead for good. The Bulldogs managed to close the gap to one on three different occasions, but that would be all the closer they would get as a 7-1 run turned a 13-11 lead into a 20-12 lead to put it out of reach. The two teams went back and forth the rest of the way as the Golden Bears comfortably finished off the sweep with a 25-17 win in the third.
