ST. PAUL, Minn. – The #7 Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (16-3, 10-0 NSIC) claimed a hard-fought five-set win (23-25, 25-16, 25-23, 19-25, 15-10) over #5 Wayne State (16-3, 8-2 NSIC) on Friday night to remain unbeaten in league play.
The Golden Bears moved two games clear of the Wildcats in the NSIC standings while remaining a game ahead of St. Cloud State in first place at the midway point of the conference season. CSP moved to 35-14 all-time against WSC and 19-9 in 28 matches in St. Paul.
It was a historic night for senior libero
Tori Hanson as she matched a career high with 35 digs while becoming the third player in program history to reach 2,000 digs. She joins Mary Slinger (2,349 digs) and Megan Graham (2,214 digs) in that illustrious club. Hanson fell just short of a double-double with eight assists on the night.
Hanson was one of five CSP players to reach double figures in digs as
Ellianna Wiertsema had 16,
Jasmine Mulvihill had 14,
Emma Schmidt had 11 and
Teagan Starkey had 10. Mulvihill picked up her sixth double-double of the season as she added 11 kills and five blocks while Starkey tallied her first career double-double with 28 assists to go along with her 10 digs.
Sophia Andersen career the load offensively as she collected 22 of the team's 63 kills on the night while
Kennedy Brady chipped in 11 kills.
Kora Kritzberger finished with eight kills and six blocks in the win.
Alaina Wolff paced the Wildcats with 22 digs while Rachel Walker picked up 40 assists and eight digs in the loss. Kelsie Cada led the team with 14 kills.
Defense was the name of the game on the night as Concordia collected a massive 103 digs while Wayne State finished with 92. The Wildcats won the battle at the net with 15.0 blocks compared to 10.0 for CSP, but the Golden Bears managed to claim a 9-6 edge in aces along with a .132-.086 edge in hitting percentage.
The opening set was a precursor of what was to come on the night as there were 14 ties and four lead changes in a back-and-forth contest. The Golden Bears were the first to build a three point lead as they rattled off a 6-2 run to turn a 10-9 deficit into a 15-12 lead. The lead remained at three at 18-15 before WSC evened it up with three in a row. Concordia still held a lead at 22-21, but the Wildcats closed on a 4-1 run to take the set 25-23.
In the second set, the Golden Bears steamrolled their way to a 6-0 lead before leading throughout. Wayne State pulled back within two at 9-7, but that would be all the closer they would get as CSP pulled away to even the match at 1-1 with a 25-16 set win.
The third set followed a similar script early with CSP claiming five of the first six points, but the Wildcats came storming back with to take an 8-6 lead with a 7-1 run of their own. Concordia rallied to regain the lead with four straight points a few points later to make it 11-10 as they would not trail again in the set. The Concordia advantage grew to as many as five at 19-14 before four in a row for WSC closed the gap back to within one. CSP would cling to a slim lead the rest of the way as they went on to win the set 25-23.
Concordia looked to be on pace to win the match in four as they held leads of 9-6, 13-9 and 16-11, but a crucial 6-0 run for the Wildcats put them in front at 17-16. Still within one at 20-19 CSP saw Wayne State grab five straight points to win the set 25-19 and even the match at 2-2 to force a decisive fifth set.
The Golden Bears wasted little time taking control in the third as they rattled off the first three points and seven of the first nine to run out to a comfortable lead. Five of the next six points went to the Wildcats as they chipped away to within a point at 8-7, but a 4-0 run in favor of CSP put it out of reach. The two teams traded points down the stretch as Concordia finished off the win with a 15-10 set win.
CSP concludes their five-match homestand tomorrow afternoon as they host Augustana at 2 p.m.
