DENVER, Colo. – The #1 Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (6-0) grabbed a pair of wins on Friday in the Colorado Premier Challenge with a four-set win (14-25, 25-18, 25-17, 26-24) over #25 Rockhurst (4-2) and a sweep (25-20, 25-18, 25-23) of #6 CSU San Bernardino (3-3).
 
The Golden Bears earned a spot in the Gold Bracket semifinal and will face #20 MSU Denver on Saturday morning at 10 a.m. The winner will advance to the championship match at 8 p.m. while the loser will take part in the third place match at 5 p.m.
 
#1 Concordia-St. Paul 3, #25 Rockhurst 1
After seeing the Hawks cruise to a comfortable opening set win, the Golden Bears came storming back to win the final three sets to take the first match of the day in four sets.
 
Concordia used a 52-42 advantage in digs and a 9-5 advantage in service aces to aid the effort while also claiming an 8.0-6.0 edge in blocks. Both teams finished with nearly identical hitting percentages as CSP claimed a slight edge with a .218 (51-24-124) mark compared to a .211 (46-20-123) mark for Rockhurst.
 
Emma Schmidt had a career day in nearly every statistical category as she set season bests with 11 kills, 18 digs, four blocks and four aces in what was a full stat line. She committed just two errors to finish with a .375 hitting percentage. Schmidt and Tori Hanson combined for 31 of the team's 52 digs as Hanson chipped in 13 along with a pair of assists in the winning effort.
 
Fellow outside hitter Sophia Andersen matched Schmidt for the team lead with 11 kills while Kennedy Brady and Jasmine Mulvihill also reached double figures with 10 kills apiece. Brady added five blocks while Mulvihill finished with two blocks and two digs. Ellie Veldman picked up 44 of the team's 47 assists to go along with seven digs.
 
Averi Vomastic led the way for Rockhurst with 14 kills while Maureen Reilly contributed 11 digs in the loss.
 
The Hawks couldn't have gotten off to a much better start as they scored the first six points of the match and nine of the first 11 to build an early lead. The Golden Bears remained within six at 12-6 before another 3-0 burst for RU grew the lead out to nine at 15-6. That lead ballooned out to 11 a few points later at 22-11 following another 4-0 run before Rockhurst claimed the set 25-14.
 
Concordia turned the tide early in the second set with three of the first four points before pulling away in the middle stages of action. With the CSP advantage sitting at one at 5-4, the Golden Bears rattled off a massive 10-2 run to put themselves in the driver's seat in the set. The momentum went back and forth from there as the two teams traded three consecutive runs of three straight points or more, including a 4-0 CSP run to make it 23-13 followed by a 4-0 RU run to cut it back to 23-17, before Concordia evened the match with a 25-18 set win.
 
Neither team was able to get much going in the early stages of the third set as the lead didn't extend beyond two until a 4-1 run gave CSP a 12-9 edge. Concordia continued to expand the lead a few points later as another 7-1 run pushed the advantage to 21-13. The Golden Bears ended up taking the set by the same margin as they grabbed a 2-1 lead in the match with a 25-17 win in the third.
 
The fourth and final set proved to be the most competitive as it featured 14 ties and seven lead changes in a back and fourth contest. It was a game of runs as there were seven streaks of at least three consecutive points between the two teams in the fourth set alone. After a 6-2 run turned a 13-13 tie into a 19-15 Rockhurst lead, Concordia rallied with five of the next six to tie it back up at 20-20. The two teams traded points until the Hawks pushed it to the brink with a 24-23 lead, but the Golden Bears found one last run, capped off by back-to-back Mulvihill kills, to close out the match with a 26-24 win in the fourth.
 
#1 Concordia-St. Paul 3, #6 CSU San Bernardino 0
The Golden Bears picked up right where they left off in the first match of the day as they took all three sets against the reigning national champions in the nightcap.
 
For the third time in six matches, Concordia cleared the .300 mark on offense as they finished with 46 kills and just 10 errors on 109 swings for a .330 hitting percentage. CSP was consistent throughout all three sets, hitting at least .256 in each set and topping out at .457 in the second set. CSUSB, on the other hand, put up 45 kills and 17 errors on 114 swings for a mark of .246.
 
Concordia also held distinct advantages in aces (6-2) and blocks (11.0-5.0) while the Coyotes held a 45-41 edge in blocks.
 
Setter Ellie Veldman reached 40 assists for the second match in a row and third time in the past five matches as she finished with 40 assists, four digs, two aces, a block and a kill. She spread out the kills evenly with with five hitters picking up between six and 13 kills.
 
Jasmine Mulvihill topped that group with 13 kills, giving her double-digit kills in five of six matches. She added five digs and four blocks while hitting .355. Emma Schmidt made it three straight double-doubles as she collected 10 kills, 12 digs and a team-best three aces in the win.
 
Defensively, Kennedy Brady picked up a season-best seven blocks while Katie Mattson matched Mulvihill with four. Brady chipped in eight kills while Mattson tallied six kills on 10 swings for a .600 hitting percentage. Tori Hanson led the squad with 14 digs.
 
CSU San Bernardino's Alexis Cardoza paced all players with 17 kills to go along with 10 digs for a double-double while Marlee Nunley collected 39 assists.
 
After an even start where the teams traded points to begin the opening set, the Golden Bears took control with a 7-1 run to turn a 7-5 deficit into a 12-8 lead. The Coyotes battled back to within a point at 13-12, but five of the next six points went in favor of CSP to push it back to five at 18-13. CSUSB chipped away to shrink the margin back down to three at 20-17 and again at 21-18, but the Golden Bears finished strong to take the set 25-20.
 
The Golden Bears got off to a faster start in the second set with four of the first five points, but a 6-2 run the other way gave CSU San Bernardino the lead. They maintained a one-point lead at 11-10 before a huge burst for CSP put it out of reach. The Golden Bears rattled off six straight and eight of nine to grow their lead to 18-12 before extending it all the way out to nine at 24-15 following another 4-0 run several points later. The Coyotes fought off three straight set points, but they could not survive a fifth as Concordia went up 2-0 with a 25-18 set win.
 
After the two teams split the first eight points, CSP took the lead for good with a 3-0 run to make it 7-4. A 6-1 run extended the lead to six at 14-8 before CSUSB started to chip away. The lead was cut in half at 16-13 and again at 19-16, but the Golden Bears kept a little bit of breathing room with back-to-back points to bring it to 21-16. The lead remained at five at 23-18 before a 3-0 run for the Coyotes trimmed it all the way down to two. Concordia forced match point with a Mattson kill before CSUSB grabbed two more to pull within just a point. Schmidt finished it off for the Golden Bears as her 10^th kill of the night gave CSP a 25-23 win in the set and a 3-0 win on the night.