DENVER, Colo. – The top-ranked Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (6-2) dropped a pair of matches on day two of the Colorado Premier Challenge as they fell to #20 MSU Denver (5-2) in three sets (18-25, 19-25, 16-25) in the Gold Bracket semifinal and #2 Angelo State (7-2) in three sets (16-25, 21-25, 17-25) in the Gold Bracket third place match on Saturday.
 
The Golden Bears had four players named to the All-Tournament Team with Emma Schmidt, Ellie Veldman, Katie Mattson and Jasmine Mulvihill all earning the honor.

#20 MSU Denver 3, #1 Concordia-St. Paul 0
After six consecutive wins to start the season, the Golden Bears ran into a tough Roadrunners squad in the Gold Bracket semifinal as MSU Denver grabbed their third consecutive sweep to start the weekend.
 
Concordia was held to just 29 kills and a .118 hitting percentage in the match while MSU Denver finished with marks of 44 kills and a .259 hitting percentage. The Roadrunners also added a 46-41 edge in digs and a 7-3 edge in service aces while CSP claimed a 6.0-5.0 advantage in blocks.
 
Emma Schmidt was the lone Golden Bear to reach double figures in kills as she collected 12 on 29 swings to go along with six digs, a solo block and an ace. Sophia Andersen added an efficient six kills on 11 swings to put up a .545 hitting percentage while Jasmine Mulvihill matched her with six kills of her own.
 
Tori Hanson paced all played with 15 digs while Ellie Veldman finished with 21 assists and three blocks.
 
Avaline Lai tallied 14 kills to lead the Roadrunners while Amela Qershia added a double-double with 18 assists and a team-best 11 digs in the win.
 
The Roadrunners led from wire-to-wire in the opening set as they used four different runs of three straight points to give themselves some breathing room. The Golden Bears remained within two points at 13-11, but a 5-1 run grew the deficit to six at 18-12. CSP managed to trim it back to four at 20-16, but that would be all the closer they would get as five of the final seven points went in favor of MSU Denver as Concordia dropped the set 25-18.
 
The Golden Bears took the first point of the second set to grab their first lead of the day before a 6-1 MSUD run quickly turned things back in their favor. CSP rallied with a 5-1 run of their own to tie it back up at 7-7, but seven straight points for the Roadrunners gave them the decisive advantage. Trailing by eight at 21-13, Concordia made one final push with five points in a row to pull within three, but MSU Denver finished strong to win the set 25-19.
 
Concordia found themselves in a deep hole early in the third as MSU Denver rattled off a 9-2 run to start things off. The Golden Bears clawed their way back to within two at 11-9 with seven of the next nine points, but the Roadrunners once again held them off. A 5-1 run pushed the MSUD lead to 16-10 before another 7-1 run several points later ballooned it to double figures at 24-14. CSP survived a pair of match points before MSU Denver finished it off at 25-16.
 
#2 Angelo State 3, #1 Concordia-St. Paul 0
In the third place match, the Belles came out firing as they cruised to a comfortable set one win before closing out the weekend with a sweep of the Golden Bears.
 
CSP was stifled by a strong ASU defense as they finished with an .095 hitting percentage, collecting 27 kills and 17 errors on 105 swings. Angelo State, on the other side, picked up 48 kills with 22 errors on 115 swings for a .226 hitting percentage. Concordia also trailed 54-35 in digs, 7.0-6.0 in blocks and 5-0 in aces.
 
Tori Hanson contributed a team-best 11 digs in the match, her sixth straight match in double figures.
 
Four different Golden Bears collected at least five kills in the match, led by seven for Jasmine Mulvihill. Mulvihill chipped in seven digs and three blocks while Emma Schmidt had six kills and four digs and Sophia Andersen and Kennedy Brady had five kills apiece.
 
Elsa Lamphere and Sophia Berg each reached double figures in kills for the Belles as Lamphere finished with 11 and Berg had 10 in the win.
 
The Golden Bears got off to a slow start in the first set as ASU collected the first four points and 10 of the first 13 to claim a solid lead. Concordia compiled a 5-0 run a few points later to close the gap to a pair at 11-9 before three straight the other way gave Angelo State a bit more breathing room. CSP was back within three at 15-12, but they were held to just four points the rest of the way as the Belles rolled to a 25-16 win.
 
The Belles opened the second set with four of the first five and remained ahead by three at 6-3 before the Golden Bears put up a 6-1 run to pull ahead 9-7. They held a slim lead up until the 18-16 mark before a 3-0 ASU run flipped the momentum back in favor of the Belles. With the score even at 20-20, Angelo State strung together a 5-1 run to take a 2-1 lead in the match with a 25-21 win in the second.
 
Another fast start for Angelo State put CSP behind 6-1 early as the lead would not shrink below three the rest of the way. That advantage sat at nine at 19-10 before a 7-3 run pulled Concordia back within five. The Belles took the last three points to close out the sweep with a 25-17 set win.
 
Concordia will look to get back to their winning ways next weekend as they host Minot State on Friday and UMary on Saturday in the opening weekend of NSIC play.