ST. PAUL, Minn. - The seventh-ranked Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (18-4, 12-1 NSIC) is set for a split weekend as they host Minnesota State (11-10, 6-7 NSIC) on Thursday before traveling to #10 Winona State (19-3, 10-3 NSIC) on Saturday.

WATCH ONLINE – NSIC NETWORK
All Golden Bear NSIC volleyball matches will be available to watch online, free of charge, powered by the NSIC Network, supported by BlueFrame Technology. Visit nsicnetwork.com/cspbears on a laptop or desktop computer, download the NSIC Network app on your mobile device or watch on your supported OTT provider such as Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Android TV. Search "NSIC Network" and download the app for the league's full sport and team lineups. NSIC NETWORK FAQ
 
DOWNLOAD THE APP
Fans can download the CSP Bears fan app, free of charge and available in the App Store or on Google Play. The app contains rosters, schedules, scores, stats, news, social media and more! Customize your options to get notifications to your favorite teams, as well. Search "CSP Bears" in the app store to stay up-to-date on Golden Bear athletics.
 
BUY TICKETS TO HOME GAMES ONLINE
New this year to Golden Bears is online ticketing. Buy tickets in advance and bring your QR code to the gates to skip the line! Friends and families who utilize the pass list will also be utilizing the online ticketing service while all students, faculty & staff will access their free CSP tickets through the service. Fans do not need to create a login, remember a username or password or download an app to purchase tickets, and tickets can still be purchased with cash at the gates. Find out more in the partnership announcement between CSP Athletics and HomeTown Ticketing.

MINNESOTA STATE SERIES HISTORY
The Golden Bears enter Thursday night's meeting with the Mavericks with a 31-4 record in 35 previous matchups. While Concordia has dominated on their home court with a record of 15-0, CSP has also had success in Mankato as they have claimed 13 wins in 16 trips. Concordia has been especially successful in recent years in the series as they have registered 13 consecutive wins dating back to the 2014 season. MSU's last win in the series came back on Sept. 16, 2014 in a four-setter in Mankato.

LAST MEETING VS MSU
Back on Oct. 31, 2019, the Golden Bears erased late deficits in both the second and third sets to complete the sweep (25-19, 26-24, 27-25) of Minnesota State on the road on Halloween night.

The Golden Bears stifled the Mavericks as they held MSU to .159 or below in all three sets in the win. Minnesota State finished at just .118 with 35 kills on the night. CSP's offense, on the other hand, collected 50 kills on a mark of .241 to pick up the win.
 
Jasmine Mulvihill played a big role both offensively and defensively as she paced all players with 21 kills, five blocks and a pair of aces while also chipping in eight digs in a versatile effort. She was the lone Golden Bear in double figures in kills as Erin Fallert added eight kills and nine digs while Sara Macek finished with eight kills and four blocks.
 
Tori Hanson finished with a team-best 14 digs to go along with four assists and two aces while Makenna Berger chipped in 12 digs in the win. Payton Nutter nearly added a double-double with 39 assists and eight digs.
 
WINONA STATE SERIES HISTORY
Concordia's meeting with Winona State on Saturday marks the 45th meeting between the two schools all-time. The Golden Bears hold a record of 34-10 against the Warriors. After WSU claimed wins in seven of the first nine contests against CSP, the Golden Bears have rattled off 32 wins in the past 35 meetings. Two of those three wins have come since 2019 as the two teams have split the last four matchups. Concordia holds a 12-5 record in 17 trips to Winona.

LAST MEETING VS WSU
Back on Oct. 5, fourth-ranked Concordia-St. Paul saw their seven-match winning streak come to an end as they fell to ninth-ranked Winona State in four sets (22-25, 25-22, 20-25, 18-25) in non-conference play at Gangelhoff Center.

While both teams finished with similar hitting percentages with WSU at .239 and CSP at .216, Winona State utilized advantages in digs and at the serving line to aid the win. WSU held a 72-62 edge in digs as well as a 6-4 edge in aces while Concordia finished with 15 service errors and Winona State had seven.
 
Tori Hanson made it three straight matches with 22 digs or more as she led all players with 23 on the night, matching her season high set last Friday at SCSU. Ellianna Wiertsema added 11 digs while Emma Schmidt chipped in 10. Schmidt also contributed 13 kills for the double-double.
 
Schmidt was joined by Sophia Andersen and Jasmine Mulvihill in double figures in kills as Andersen led the team with 15 kills and a .344 hitting percentage while Mulvihill had 11 kills, seven digs and three aces. Ellie Veldman dished out 47 assists on the night.

LAST TIME OUT
Last weekend, the Golden Bears finished with a weekend split as they swept Sioux Falls on Friday before falling in four sets at then-#14 Southwest Minnesota State on Saturday.

On Friday, Concordia utilized a consistent attack throughout the night as they hit .333 or better in all three sets to finish at .353, collecting 51 kills on 102 attempts. The duo of Jasmine Mulvihill and Emma Schmidt paced the offense as they combined for 33 of the team's 51 kills on the night. Mulvihill finished with a team-leading 18 kills while falling one block shy of her career best with seven and also chipping in four digs and three aces. Schmidt was nearly perfect offensively as she collected 15 kills with no errors on 22 swings to finish with a .682 hitting percentage to go along with 12 digs.

On Saturday, Southwest Minnesota State became the first team to clear the .300 mark hitting against CSP since Winona State hit .317 on Oct. 15, 2019, snapping a 39-match streak of opponents hitting below that mark. SMSU finished with a .314 hitting percentage, collecting 66 kills with 18 errors on 153 attempts. Tori Hanson once again paced the squad with 17 digs, giving her 13 straight matches in double figures and seven of the last nine with 15 or more. Ellianna Wiertsema also reached double figures with 12.
 
IN THE POLLS
The Golden Bears dropped to #7 in the poll after splitting with Sioux Falls and #14 Southwest Minnesota State on the road last weekend. Concordia has been a mainstay near the top of the poll for nearly two decades as they haven't ranked outside the top-10 since 2003. The Golden Bears have spent an incredible 84 weeks at #1 since they debuted there in the 2004 preseason poll. Since the 2007 season, CSP has ranked #1 at least once in all but one season.

CONFERENCE LEADERS
So far this season, the Golden Bears have gotten production throughout their lineup as seven different players that rank in the top-20 in the league in at least one statistical category this season.

Jasmine Mulvihill, Sophia Andersen and Emma Schmidt all rank inside the top-20 in kills per set as Mulvihill sits in ninth with 3.60 kills per set while Andersen sits in 14th with 3.00 and Schmidt sits in 18th with 2.65. Kennedy Brady and Andersen also rank near the top in hitting percentage as she ranks 10th at .327 while Andersen ranks 19th at .269. Brady also ranks fifth in blocks per set at 1.09.

Tori Hanson ranks fourth in digs per set at 4.68 and 20th in service aces per set at 0.31. Ellianna Wiertsema (0.40 per set) and Emma Schmidt (0.37) also rank in the top-20 in aces per set while Ellie Veldman ranks ninth in assists per set at 9.06.

CLIMBING THE RANKS
After reaching the 1,000 career dig mark late in her sophomore season, senior libero Tori Hanson reached 2,000 in her career a few weeks ago. Hanson currently ranks third in DII-era history at CSP with 2,070 digs, sitting 144 shy of Megan Graham in second, and third in service aces with 150, 15 shy of Jessica Lucia in second.

Sophomore Jasmine Mulvihill is closing in on becoming the 22nd member of the 1,000 kill club at Concordia in just her second season of play. Mulvihill sits 154 kills shy of the mark while her 3.99 career kills per set rank first at CSP.