TAMPA, Fla. – The #5 Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (2-1) put together an all-around performance in a sweep (25-18, 29-27, 25-19) of Valdosta State (1-2) on Saturday morning at the Terrace Hotel Classic.
 
The Golden Bears rode an impressive offensive output as they hit .349 (50-13-106) while also limiting the Blazers to just .152 (36-21-99) in the match. CSP also held a slight 38-37 edge in digs while VSU had an 8.0-3.0 advantage in blocks.
 
The duo of Erin Fallert and Jasmine Mulvihill contributed over half of the team's kills as Fallert finished with a team-best 15 kills and Mulvihill chipped in 11 kills to make it three straight in double figures to start the year. Fallert hit a solid .433 to go along with eight digs while Mulvihill put up six digs and a block.
 
Payton Nutter fell a dig shy of a double-double with 21 assists and nine digs while Ellie Veldman added 13 assists. Tori Hanson matched Nutter's nine digs to lead all players. Sara Macek nearly gave CSP three hitters in double figures with eight kills while Kennedy Brady followed with seven.
 
Grace Daughtery and Dariah Powell were the focal points of the VSU offense as Daughtery led the team with 11 kills while Powell finished with 10 kills and six digs. Tammy Reyes Perez added 23 assists, eight digs and four kills.
 
An early 3-0 run in the opening set gave the Golden Bears an 8-5 advantage as they quickly took the lead for good. Valdosta State closed the gap to one with the next two points, but an 8-2 burst for CSP ballooned the lead all the way out to seven at 16-9. The Blazers chipped away to cut it to four at 20-16 and again at 21-17, but that would be all the closer they would get as Concordia finished on a 4-1 run to take the set 25-18.
 
Concordia carried the momentum into the second set as they opened on a 5-1 run before an extended 9-5 stretch on the other side evened it back up at 10-10. The momentum temporarily shifted back the other way with a 3-0 CSP run, but VSU regained control with four straight to take the lead. A point for the Golden Bears tied it back up before seven of the next nine gave the Blazers a 22-17 edge. Concordia came storming right back with five in a row to tie it and seven of the next eight to take the lead at 24-23. Valdosta State survived two set points before forcing two of their own at 26-24 and 27-26, but a 3-0 run for the Golden Bears gave them the decisive edge at 29-27.
 
Valdosta State jumped ahead with the first three points of the third, but that proved to be their only lead in the set as a 9-1 run put CSP out front 9-4. VSU managed to pull back even at 9-9 and again at 10-10 before another 5-0 run for Concordia gave them some breathing room. With the lead still at five at 20-15, the Blazers responded with four of five to pull within two, but the Golden Bears took control from there with the final four points in a row to complete the sweep with a 25-19 set win.
 
Concordia will conclude action in the Terrace Hotel Classic tonight at 6:30 p.m. in a matchup of top-five teams in the country as they take on #1 Tampa.