ST. PAUL, Minn. - The sixth-ranked Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (6-2, 0-0 NSIC) opens the NSIC season on the road as they travel to Minnesota Crookston (2-6, 0-0 NSIC) on Friday and Bemidji State (3-5, 0-0 NSIC) on Saturday in the conference-opening weekend.

MINNESOTA CROOKSTON SERIES HISTORY
Friday's contest in Crookston between CSP and Minnesota Crookston marks the 36th meeting between the two programs with Concordia holding a 32-3 edge in the previous meetings. After three straight wins for Minnesota Crookston to begin the series, Concordia has rattled off 32 wins in a row with 29 sweeps dating back to 2000. Minnesota Crookston's last win in the series came back on Oct. 29, 1999 in St. Paul. In 16 meetings all-time in Crookston, CSP has won 15 of them.

LAST MEETING VS UMC
In the lone meeting last season, Concordia bounced back from a first-set loss to defeat Minnesota Crookston in four sets on the road.

Concordia doubled up UMC 62-31 in the kills department with a significant .374-.152 edge in hitting percentage with a balanced offensive attack. CSP added a 54-34 advantage in digs as well as a 7-3 advantage in blocks and an 8-6 advantage in service aces as they led in nearly every statistical category. The Golden Bears were especially dominant in the final three sets, hitting .344 or better in all three, including marks of .448 or better in two of the three while holding Minnesota Crookston to .125 or below in each.
 
CSP's 15.50 kills per set were evenly spread out throughout the lineup as five different hitters registered in double figures in kills. Elizabeth Mohr played a major role in getting the entire offense involved as she tallied 54 assists (13.50 per set) while also adding nine digs, three aces and two blocks in an all-around performance.
 
Brooklyn Lewis stepped forward with an efficient effort as she led all players with 16 kills on just 24 attempts to compile a .542 hitting percentage. She also added a career-best nine digs as well as an ace. Not to be outdone, Kennedy Brady was even more efficient as 11 of her 16 swings resulted in kills. CSP's other middle, Sara Macek, was also solid, collecting 12 kills and a .474 hitting percentage and five blocks in the win..422 for the match. 

BEMIDJI STATE SERIES HISTORY
On Saturday, the Golden Bears meet the Beavers for the 43rd time in program history as Concordia enters with a record of 33-8-1 against BSU. Concordia has held a decisive edge in recent history in the series with 31 consecutive wins dating back to the 2002 season. During that span, all but two of Concordia's wins have been sweeps, including the last 12 in a row. In 15 meetings in Bemidji, CSP is 13-2.

LAST MEETING VS BSU
Back on Oct. 12, 2018, CSP continued their dominance of Bemidji State as they claimed a road sweep in the lone meeting of the season.

The offense was fairly evenly spread for CSP as four different players finished between eight and 12 in kills in the win. Sara Macek led the way once again with 12 kills while also filling the stat sheet elsewhere with four blocks, a career-high three service aces and a pair of digs. She was joined by Sydney Book in double figures in kills as she picked up 10 kills on the night.
 
While Macek's three service aces were a career best, Brooklyn Lewis matched that total for a career best of her own. The total was especially impressive as both more than doubled their career output in that category as they entered the night with two apiece. Lewis also chipped in nine kills while Hope Schiller followed close behind with eight kills and eight digs.
 
Elizabeth Mohr finished with an even 13.00 assists per set on the night to give her 39 total while she fell two digs shy of double digits with eight. Tori Hanson was the lone Golden Bear in double figures with 12 digs.

LAST TIME OUT
The Golden Bears ended the non-conference season on a high note as they went 4-0 over the weekend to win the Colorado Premier Challenge for the seventh time since 2008.

In a rematch of last year's championship match against SMSU, Concordia doubled down on the result with their second consecutive tournament title. The Golden Bears also previously claimed the top spot in 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2016.

CSP's Tori Hanson, Jasmine Mulvihill, Kennedy Brady and Erin Fallert all earned All-Tournament Team honors for the squad for their performances over the weekend. Mulvihill also brought home Sports Imports/AVCA National Player of the Week honors as well as being named NSIC Offensive Player of the Week after averaging 3.67 kills per set with a .347 hitting percentage.

IN THE POLLS
After falling to #10 following a 2-2 opening weekend, the Golden Bears jumped back up to #6 after winning the Colorado Premier Challenge, going 4-0 on the weekend. 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 hvae ranked outside the top-5 just five 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 12th in DII-era history at CSP with 1,159 digs, putting her 139 away from moving into the top-10. She isn't the only Golden Bear piling up career statistics as Erin Fallert sits 229 digs shy of 1,000 with 771 and Sara Macek sits 253 kills shy of 1,000 with 747.