ST. PAUL, Minn. – The #7 Concordia Golden Bears volleyball team (9-3, 3-1 NSIC) rallied to win the final two sets to claim a five-set victory (25-22, 22-25, 21-25, 25-23, 15-12) over #15 St. Cloud State (11-1, 3-1 NSIC) on Saturday afternoon at Gangelhoff Center.
 
For the first time since 2004, the Huskies pushed the Golden Bears to five sets as SCSU picked up their sixth and seventh set wins in the past 27 meetings of the series. CSP made it 27 wins in a row in the series as they moved to 27-1 in the 28 meetings.
 
It was a grind-it-out match for both teams Concordia collected 86 digs and 12.0 blocks while the Huskies finished with 82 digs and 11.0 blocks. Outside of an offensive outburst in the third set in which both teams hit .379 or better, neither team registered a hitting percentage above .286 in any set. CSP finished the match at .202 (65-28-183) while SCSU was held to .160 (61-31-188).
 
Tori Hanson played a huge role in the defensive effort as she fell four digs shy of her career high with 30. Her 30-dig effort was just the second for the program since 2011. She was joined in double figures by Erin Fallert and Riley Decker as Fallert finished with 19 and Riley Decker set a career-best with 13. Fallert also tallied 16 kills and a .333 hitting percentage for her seventh double-double of the season.
 
Fallert and Jasmine Mulvihill combined for over half of the team's 65 kills as Mulvihill led the team with 17 kills to go along with five blocks. The freshman has now reached double digits in kills in 11 matches on the year, including four with 15 or more. Kennedy Brady added eight kills to go along with a team-best eight blocks in the win.
 
Linsey Rachel put up a dominant performance for the Huskies as she led all players with 25 kills while also filling the stat sheet with 10 digs, five blocks and four assists in the match. Maddy Torve added 50 assists and 10 digs for a double-double of her own.
 
The opening set featured six ties through the first 12 points before a 6-0 Golden Bear run turned an 8-6 deficit into a 12-8 lead to set the tone. The Huskies did manage to even the score at 15-15 following a 6-2 run of their own a few points later, but they were unable to get over the top and regain the lead. The score remained tied as late at 19-19 before three straight for CSP gave them the lead for good as they went on to win the set 25-22.
 
It was the Huskies that got off to a strong start in the second set as they opened on a 6-3 run before further growing their lead to six at 11-5. After CSP grabbed the next two points, St. Cloud State ballooned their lead all the way out to nine 16-7 with five straight points. Concordia would not go away, however, as they scored six of seven to force an SCSU timeout. The Golden Bears further closed the gap with four in a row later in the set to pull within two at 21-19 to force a second St. Cloud State timeout, but the Huskies righted the ship from there as they hung on to take the set 25-22.
 
St. Cloud State led nearly wire-to-wire in the third set as they took a three-point lead before maintaining a slim lead pretty much throughout. Concordia fought back to tie it up at 6-6 and later erased 15-9 deficit with a 7-1 run, but they were unable to take the lead as the Huskies responded with five of seven to take the lead for good. CSP was back within one at 21-20 and again at 22-21 but the final three points went in favor of SCSU as they took a 2-1 lead in the match with a 25-21 set win.
 
The Golden Bears found themselves in a deep hole early in the fourth as the Huskies rattled off six straight points to take an 11-5 lead, but it would not last as CSP battled their way back to keep the match alive. Concordia evened the score at 12-12 following a 7-1 burst before eventually taking the lead at 16-14 following another 4-0 run. St. Cloud State jumped back out front several times down the stretch, including as late as 21-20, but Concordia finished strong with a 5-2 run to claim the set 25-23 and force a deciding fifth set.
 
The Huskies grabbed the opening point of the fifth set, but the Golden Bears shifted the momentum in their favor from there. CSP put up five of the next six points to take the lead before SCSU scored two in a row to pull back within one. Concordia was back on the offensive with three straight to double up the Huskies at 8-4. With the lead still at four at 10-6, St. Cloud State embarked on a 4-1 stretch to close the gap to one at 11-10. After the two teams traded the next two points, CSP answered with two more in their favor to force match point at 14-11. The Huskies survived the first one to pull within two, but that would be all the closer they would get as a Kennedy Brady kill finished it off for the Golden Bears.
 
Concordia hits the road next weekend as they travel to Augustana on Friday and #17 Wayne State on Saturday.