ST. PAUL, Minn. – The #4 Concordia Golden Bears volleyball team (12-2, 6-0 NSIC) moved to 6-0 in NSIC action with a four-set win (25-22, 33-35, 25-14, 26-24) on the road at #16 St. Cloud State (10-4, 5-1 NSIC) on Friday night.
The win moved the Golden Bears to 29-2 in the all-time series against the Huskies, including a 13-2 record in St. Cloud.
CSP and SCSU went back and forth for much of the night with a total of 32 ties and 14 lead changes over four sets, highlighted by 17 ties and seven lead changes in a wild second set. The final margin of 35-33 in favor of St. Cloud State marked the highest scoring set in the DII era for Concordia and the highest score since dropping the second set 37-35 against Minnesota Duluth on Sept. 11, 2007. The two teams combined to face set point eleven times, six for CSP and five for SCSU, before the Huskies finally brought the set to a close to even the match at 1-1.
Following a wild second set, the Golden Bears stormed back to claim a comfortable set three victory before needing extra points in the fourth set to close out the match with a 26-24 set win.
While the Huskies managed to hold a slim 62-59 edge in kills on the night, Concordia proved to be more efficient with a .288-.185 edge in hitting percentage while also winning the serving battle and the battle at the net with a 10-6 advantage in aces and a 12.0-5.0 edge in blocks. The 12.0 blocks were a season high while the 10 aces ranked third on the year.
The duo of
Kennedy Brady and
Jasmine Mulvihill provided the team with production both offensively and defensively as they both tallied 15 kills and six blocks in the win. Brady finished with an efficient .565 hitting percentage while Mulvihill added 13 digs for her fourth double-double of the season.
Kora Kritzberger matched the block total with six of her own to go along with seven kills while
Sophia Andersen chipped in 11 kills and seven digs.
Tori Hanson continued to be a rock in the back row with her 12
th double-digit dig total on the year with a season-best 23. She was joined in double figures by Mulvihill with 13,
Ellianna Wiertsema with 11 and
Emma Schmidt with 10. Wiertsema added three aces in the winning effort.
Ellie Veldman nearly made it five in double figures as she collected 47 assists, eight digs, four kills, three aces and two blocks in a full stat line.
Phebie Rossi paced all players with 16 kills for the Huskies while Maddy Torve chipped in 51 assists and 19 digs for a double-double in the loss.
Concordia will look to remain in the win column tomorrow afternoon with another big road matchup against #22 Minnesota Duluth at 2 p.m.
