CROOKSTON, Minn. - Sixth-ranked Concordia-St. Paul volleyball (7-2, 1-0 NSIC) opened Northern Sun play on Friday night with three set sweep (25-11, 17, 16) at Minnesota Crookston (2-7, 0-1 NSIC) at Lysaker Gymnasium. CSP heads to Bemidji State for a Saturday afternoon match at 1 p.m. tomorrow.

The win is Concordia's fifth straight on the season, and historically it's the fifth year in a row Concordia has opened the NSIC slate with a victory in a league that currently features eight nationally ranked teams in 2019. The win is also Concordia's 33rd in a row against Minnesota Crookston, losing just three sets during the series winning streak.

Junior Erin Fallert had her sixth double-double of the year and third in a row with 10 kills and 10 digs while hitting a strong .474 (10-1-19) on the night.

Concordia cruised to a first set win, leading from wire-to-wire in the opener. Concordia went from a 10-8 lead to up by eight with six straight points for a 16-8 edge. Later in the set, leading 19-11, Concordia rallied for another 6-0 run to close it out 25-11.

The second and third sets became increasingly challenging as the host looked to defend its homecourt. Set two featured five ties and three lead changes before 13 ties and seven lead changes in the third.

In the second set, Concordia claimed an early 8-5 lead before UMC clawed back for a 10-10 tie. After three straight CSP points, UMC came back within one, 13-12 before Concordia pulled away by scoring six of the next seven points for a 19-13 lead late in the set. After the Golden Eagles made a late run with three of four points to cut it to 23-17, CSP put it away with back-to-back points with freshman Jasmine Mulvihill setting down the set winner.

Mulvihill ended with a match-high 13 kills while hitting .429 and she's hit double-figures in kills in five straight matches and all but one on the season.

The third set was the most closely contested despite the higher CSP final margin. The Golden Eagles led 10-9 and were able to keep a 13-13 tie with CSP midway through the set. The Golden Bears secured four straight points from there to start an 8-1 run which was sparked by a pair of aces by freshman Makenna Berger and another by freshman Riley Decker for a 21-14 lead.

Berger had five kills and hit .364 on her 11 swings, adding fou races, seven digs and five blocks while Decker added three digs.

The back row was led by Tori Hanson's match-high 14 digs, adding five assists.

The passing helped setters Payton Nutter (20) and Ellie Veldman (14) serve the hitters to a .340 percentage. Five hitters had at least a .400 hitting percentage in the match with Sara Macek (.444), Sydney Book (.429) and Jamie Guptill (.400) joining Mulvihill and Fallert.

UMC was led by Porsha Porath's nine kills on 35 attacks while Katie Lienemann had seven digs for the Golden Eagles.