ST. PAUL, Minn. – The top-ranked Concordia-St. Paul women's volleyball team (4-0) wraps up non-conference play this weekend as they travel to the Colorado Premier Challenge on Friday and Saturday. CSP opens up action against #25 Rockhurst at 3:30 p.m. and #6 CSU San Bernardino at 7 p.m. on Friday.
 
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.
 
TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
The Golden Bears head back to Denver for their annual trip to the Colorado Premier Challenge. The tourney is co-hosted by MSU Denver and Regis, with both campuses hosting matches throughout the weekend. CSP is set to play both of their matches at MSU Denver on Friday as they face Rockhurst and CSU San Bernardino at Auroria Event Center. Concordia will then be placed into one of three brackets on Saturday with match times and locations to be determined.
 
Live stats and live video will be available for all matches.
 
TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Concordia enters the weekend as seven-time championships of the Colorado Premier Challenge. CSP took home the crown during their last two trips in 2018 and 2019 while they also took the top spot in 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2016.
 
In the 2019 tournament, the Golden Bears knocked off the Mustangs of Southwest Minnesota State in the title match for the second year in a row. In that year's iteration, it was a Golden Bear block party that led to the victory. CSP's 16.0 total blocks were the most in a match for the team since they tallied 18.0 at Minnesota Duluth on November 4, 2016.
 
Kennedy Brady played a major role in the CSP block as she set a new career high with nine blocks in the win. Her tally matched the best individual performance in a four-set match since Maria Steinhagen collected 14.0 blocks on November 10, 2016 at Wayne State. Jasmine Mulvihill, Sara Macek and Sydney Book each added five blocks in the victory as well.
 
Mulvihill was also effective offensively with 15 kills on 30 swings (.300 hitting percentage) while Macek also reached double figures with 10. Tori Hanson finished the tournament with a staggering 89 digs over the four matches, including 55 over the two matches on Saturday.
 
Hanson, Mulvihill, Brady and Fallert all earned All-Tournament Team honors for the squad for their performances.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Golden Bears opened the season with four consecutive victories in the Keweenaw Volleyball Classic on the campus of Michigan Tech.
 
CSP swung past Lake Superior State in three sets in the opener before knocking off Northern Michigan in four on Friday. They followed up those performances with sweeps of Parkside and Michigan Tech to finish off an impressive weekend.
 
As a team, Concordia hit .303 (196-65-432) while holding their opponents to .110 (136-88-436) over the four matches. CSP also held advantages of 177-147 in digs, 31.0-18.0 in blocks and 21-15 in service aces.
 
Jasmine Mulvihill paced the squad with 4.08 kills per set to go along with 2.00 digs and 0.77 blocks per set as she registered a pair of double-doubles. Tori Hanson led the way with 4.00 digs and 0.62 service aces per set while Ellie Veldman finished with 12.50 assists per set.
 
IN THE POLLS
Following the 4-0 weekend at the Keweenaw Volleyball Classic, CSP moved into the top spot in the AVCA Coaches Poll.
 
CSP earned 1114 points in the poll and 20 of 47 first-place votes, moving ahead of Angelo State, who picked up 1086 points and 21 first-place votes.
 
The Golden Bears return to first in the poll for the 84th time overall and the first time since Oct. 22, 2018. CSP has ranked #1 at least once in all but one season since 2007, making their debut there in the 2004 preseason poll.
 
Concordia has spent all but four weeks inside the top-5 since October 2012. The last time that CSP ranked outside the top-10 was back in 2003.
 
THE MATCHUPS
Friday's meeting between Concordia-St. Paul and Rockhurst marks the third ever meeting between the two schools as CSP and RU split the two previous meetings. The last meeting came back in 2017 as the Golden Bears and the Hawks met in the national semifinal match in Pensacola, Fla. with CSP picking up a sweep before claiming their ninth NCAA National Championship in 11 years.
 
While the match went just three sets, the Hawks forced the Golden Bears to earn every single point throughout the night with tremendous back row play. Rockhurst collected 67 digs while CSP followed close behind with 64 digs in an impressive showing of their own. Both teams also gave each other fits at the net as RU tallied 13.0 total blocks while Concordia picked up 12.0.
 
The driving force behind the offense was setter Elizabeth Mohr. Mohr collected a staggering 49 assists in just three sets (16.33 per set) to go along with 13 digs for her eighth double-double on the season. She wasn't the only Golden Bear to contribute a double-double as Hope Schiller added a team-best 15 kills to go along with 11 digs in the win. Incredibly, Schiller nearly finished with triple-double as she shattered her career high with eight blocks, including four solo blocks.
 
Brooklyn Lewis came up big at big moments as she tallied 13 kills on the night while Mariya Sampson added 10 more to give the team three hitters in double figures. On the defensive side, Tori Hanson paced the squad with 15 digs while Erin Fallert chipped in 13 as well. Shelby Seurer was big in the block with six blocks to go along with her eight kills.
 
Concordia and CSU San Bernardino are no strangers when it comes to meeting in big matches as five of their previous eight meetings have come in the NCAA Tournament, including two title matches, two semifinal matches and a quarterfinal match. CSP holds a record of 7-1 against CSUSB, winning all five postseason matches.
 
Incredibly, the two teams met in the NCAA Tournament four years in a row from 2008-11, including an iconic 2008 National Championship match played in St. Paul in which the Golden Bears fought their way to a dramatic five-set win in front of their home fans. Concordia also claimed a national title in San Bernardino, Calif. in 2011 as they knocked off the hosts CSUSB in straight sets.
 
The last meeting came in the 2012 Colorado Premier Challenge as the Golden Bears won in four sets.
 
CSU San Bernardino enters the 2021 season as the reigning NCAA Champions as they went a perfect 33-0, capped off by a four-set win over Nebraska-Kearney in the title match.