ST. PAUL, Minn. – The #3 Concordia Golden Bears volleyball team (20-2, 13-1 NSIC) matched their longest winning streak since 2016 as they won their 13^th in a row with a four-set victory (20-25, 25-18, 25-16, 25-15) over Upper Iowa (12-9, 6-8 NSIC) on Thursday night at Gangelhoff Center.
 
CSP's 13 consecutive victories matched their longest streak since closing out the 2016 championship season with 19 in a row. The Golden Bears also improved to 19-1 against the Peacocks, including a perfect 9-0 on their home court.
 
Concordia reached double figures in aces for the second match in a row and fourth time on the season as they finished with 13 as a team, led by Payton Stier's seven. Her mark of seven aces was a new program-best in the 25-point scoring format. CSP added a .352 hitting percentage as they cleared .350 for the sixth time in the past eight matches to improve their season mark to .305. The Golden Bears tallied a 60-43 edge in kills as well as a 57-44 edge in digs on the night.
 
The offense was evenly spread out with four different hitters collecting at least a dozen kills in the win. Jasmine Mulvihill led the way with 16 to go along with eight digs, three aces and three blocks while Emma Schmidt and Katie Mattson added 14 kills apiece. Schmidt hit .500 on the night while she added 14 digs for her fourth double-double of the year while Mattson hit .478 with three blocks. Sophia Andersen chipped in 12 kills and three digs of her own.
 
Teagan Starkey matched her highest assist total in a four-set match this season as she dished out 55 assists to go along with six digs and two aces. Ellie Sieling fell one dig short of her career-best with a match-best 18.
 
Maggie Streightiff paced UIU with 15 kills while Nicole Pozorski had a team-best 12 digs in the loss.
 
Set one was a game of runs with a combined five different bursts of at least four points in a row, three for Upper Iowa and two for Concordia, as there were six ties and three lead changes throughout. With the Peacocks clinging to a 20-18 edge, UIU scored four straight points to put it out of reach before finishing it off at 25-20.
 
Concordia shifted the momentum in the second set as they opened with five of six and eight of the first 11 points. The Golden Bears held the Peacocks at arm's length as their lead would not shrink below four the rest of the way. The lead reached as many as eight at 22-14 before CSP evened the match with a 25-18 set win.
 
The Golden Bears continued to control play in the third with a 7-3 run before another 8-2 run midway through the set extended it to seven at 17-10. Concordia pushed it to nine at 21-12 before taking the set by the same margin at 25-16.
 
It was more of the same in the fourth as CSP opened on another 5-1 run before a 6-0 run midway through turned an 11-10 lead into a 17-10 advantage. A late 7-1 run ballooned it to double figures at 24-14 before CSP closed out the victory with a 25-15 win.
 
CSP returns to action on Saturday as they travel to Winona State for a 5 p.m. start.