ST. PAUL, Minn. – The sixth-ranked Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (9-2, 3-0 NSIC) hits the road for the first time during conference play as they travel to MSU Moorhead (1-10, 1-2 NSIC) on Friday and Northern State (8-3, 3-0 NSIC) on Saturday. First serve is set for 6 p.m. on Friday and 2 p.m. 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.
 
MSU MOORHEAD SERIES HISTORY
The Golden Bears enter Friday's meeting with the Dragons with a record of 31-8 in 39 previous meetings as CSP has controlled the series in recent history. Since 2001, Concordia has picked up 31 wins in the last 32, including 16 in a row since 2008. During that winning streak, the Golden Bears have only dropped three sets as they have collected sweeps in 13 of those contests. In 19 all-time meetings in St. Paul, Concordia has gone 16-3.
 
LAST MEETING VS MSUM
Back on Oct. 25, 2019, CSP took all three sets from the Dragons at Gangelhoff Center.
 
The Golden Bear offense put together their best effort of the season as they hit an impressive .379 on the night as they collected 43 kills with just 10 errors on 87 attempts. Their defense was also effective as they held MSU Moorhead to .116 hitting with 27 kills and 17 errors on 86 swings. CSP also held massive 10.0-0.0 edge in blocks as well as an 8-1 edge in aces in the win.
 
The youth shined in Concordia's offense as Jasmine Mulvihill and Katie Mattson each reached double figures with 10 kills in the win. Mulvihill added 10 digs and three blocks for the double-double while Mattson fell one kill shy of her career best while hitting an impressive .474.
 
Sara Macek added an efficient offensive performance with eight kills and a .500 hitting percentage to go along with six blocks while Kennedy Brady chipped in seven kills.
 
NORTHERN STATE SERIES HISTORY
Saturday's meeting between the Golden Bears and the Wolves marks the 43rd time the two schools have met as CSP holds a record of 33-9 in the previous 42 meetings. The Golden Bears have dominated the series since 2003 as Concordia has won 31 of the past 33 meetings. Both of those wins for NSU during that stretch have come since 2015 with a four-setter back on Oct. 16, 2015 and a five-setter last year. Only two of the last eight meetings have been decided in three sets with five going to five sets. In 24 home contests in the series, Concordia has gone 21-3.
 
LAST MEETING VS NSU
In the last meeting on Oct. 26, 2019, then-#7 Concordia-St. Paul picked up a huge win with a sweep of then-#3 Northern State in St. Paul.
 
The CSP block caused problems for the Wolves all night as the Golden Bears tallied 13.0 total blocks as a team, their second-most on the team. The total was one shy of the program record in the DII-era in a three-set match as it was their largest total since 2010. Sara Macek was a big contributor to that effort with a career-high eight blocks in the win. She was not the only one to contribute, however, as six different players registered at least two blocks in the win.
 
Overall, the Golden Bears held the Wolves to .150 hitting for the night while finishing with a mark of .230 themselves. CSP also held a 7-2 edge in aces in the win.
 
Tori Hanson did a little bit of everything as she finished the night with a team-best 14 digs while also adding seven assists and three aces while Makenna Berger also reached double figures with 11 digs in the win. Jasmine Mulvihill put together a strong offensive performance to pace all players with 16 kills on the night as she added eight digs, three blocks and two aces in a full stat line.
 
LAST TIME OUT
On Wednesday night, the Golden Bears extended their streak to nine consecutive sets won to begin NSIC play as they swept Upper Iowa at Gangelhoff Center.
 
While CSP came out on top in all three sets in the contest, they trailed late in each of the final two sets before storming back and claiming victory. The Golden Bears tallied their third straight performance .350+ hitting percentage to start conference play as they hit .363 with 49 kills and nine errors on 102 attempts. The Peacocks, on the other side, hit .202 with 40 kills and 19 errors on 104 attempts.
 
Concordia added a 7.0-3.0 edge in blocks and a 5-3 edge in aces while the scrappy Peacocks finished with a 39-37 advantage in digs.
 
Jasmine Mulvihill finished with her highest kill total in a three-set match on the season as she led all players with 19 kills and a .500 hitting percentage in the win. The sophomore chipped in six digs and three blocks as well. Sophia Andersen joined her in double figures with 13 kills and a .440 hitting percentage.
 
Ellianna Wiertsema collected a career-best 10 digs and three aces as she matched Tori Hanson for the team lead in digs. Teagan Starkey added a career high of her own with 38 assists to go along with three digs, two blocks and an ace.
 
IN THE POLLS
After spending last week at #4 in the polls, the Golden Bears dropped to #6 despite a sweep of Minot State and UMary. Concordia has been a mainstay near the top of the poll for over a decade 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
Heading into the conference season, the Golden Bears have gotten production from 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 is one of three Concordia setters to rank inside the top-20 in kills per set as she sits in fifth with 3.91 kills per set while Sophia Andersen sits in 17th at 2.94 and Emma Schmidt sits in 18th with 2.92. CSP also has three players ranked near the top in hitting percentage as Katie Mattson leads the way in fourth at .360 while Kennedy Brady's mark of .349 ranks sixth and Mulvihill ranks 11th at .306.
 
Mattson, Brady and Mulvihill also rank near the top in blocks per set as Mattson holds the sixth spot at 1.13, Brady holds the eighth spot at 1.03 and Mulvihill holds the 18th spot at 0.74. Ellie Veldman registers in at sixth in assists per set at 10.63 while Tori Hanson ranks 11th in digs per set at 3.80. Schmidt (10th with 0.38), Hanson (12th with 0.37) and Veldman (15th with 0.33) also rank in the top-20 in service aces per set.
 
CLIMBING THE RANKS
After reaching the 1,000 career dig mark late in her sophomore season, junior libero Tori Hanson has moved her way up in the career record book at Concordia. Hanson currently ranks third in DII-era history at CSP with 1,833 digs, sitting 381 shy of Megan Graham in second, and fifth in service aces with 138, three shy of Maggie McNamara and Joy Wubben in a tie for third.