MARSHALL, Minn. – The #2 Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (23-2, 16-1 NSIC) survived a late surge at #5 Southwest Minnesota State (20-5, 12-5 NSIC) to claim a five-set win (28-26, 25-12, 19-25, 16-25, 15-12) for their 16^th consecutive victory.
 
The Golden Bears stormed out to a 2-0 lead with wins in each of the first two sets before SMSU battled back to even it up and force a fifth set. CSP rebounded from there as they maintained a slim lead throughout the closing set to keep their longest winning streak since taking the final 19 matches of the 2016 season alive. Concordia also improved their all-time record to 41-27-1 against the Mustangs, moving to 14-10 in Marshall.
 
CSP won the efficiency battle as they hit .298 compared to .162 for SMSU. Blocks played a major role in that difference as Concordia's 15.0 blocks matched their highest mark since Sept. 14, 2019, also against the Mustangs. The Golden Bears added a 62-57 edge in digs while Southwest Minnesota State collected a 10-3 advantage in service aces.
 
Teagan Starkey cleared 50 assists for the third time in five matches and seventh time of the year as she finished with 50 assists, nine digs, a career-best six blocks and two kills in the win. She spread the ball around evenly with four players in double figures in kills, led by 13 apiece for Emma Schmidt, Jasmine Mulvihill and Kennedy Brady. Schmidt hit .423 while adding 10 digs and Mulvihill chipped in 10 digs and three blocks as they both tallied double-doubles. Brady led the way with a season-best seven blocks on the night. Mattson added 10 digs and six blocks in the win.
 
Joining Schmidt and Mulvihill in double figures in digs were Ellie Sieling and Payton Stier. Sieling tied a match-best with 13 while Stier finished with 10 and a pair of assists.
 
Alisa Bengen dished out 52 assists to go along with 10 digs while Meg Schmidt led all players with 21 kills for the Mustangs.
 
An early 6-0 run in the opening set turned a 3-1 lead for CSP into a 7-3 advantage for SMSU. That lead grew to seven at 14-7, but the Golden Bears answered with four in a row and nine of 12 to pull within a point at 17-16. The Mustangs shifted the momentum back in their favor with a 3-0 run a few points later to make it 23-19, but four straight for Concordia tied it up at 23-23. The Golden Bears survived a pair of set points before rattling off four of five to sneak away with a 28-26 win in the first.
 
Concordia wasted little time in the second as they set the tone with an early 4-0 run to take an 8-4 lead. Another 4-0 run later in the set pushed it to eight at 17-9 before they finished with a flurry, scoring the final seven points to take a 2-0 lead with a 25-12 set win.
 
The Mustangs would not go away, however, scoring five of the first six in the third set to take control. An extended 9-3 run midway through the set ballooned the deficit to 18-9 for CSP before Southwest Minnesota State settled with a 25-19 win to push the match to a fourth set.
 
It was more of the same in the fourth as the Mustangs opened on a 9-2 run to take the lead for good. The lead reached nine at 14-5 before the Golden Bears trimmed it back to four at 19-15, but it was too little too late for CSP as the Mustangs took six of the final seven to force a fifth set with a 25-16 win.
 
After the Mustangs took the first point of the fifth, CSP responded with seven of 10 to build a 7-4 lead of their own. The two teams traded the next few points before a 3-0 run for the Golden Bears gave them some breathing room at 13-8. Southwest Minnesota State made things interesting as they fought back with four straight points to pull within one, but Concordia took care of business with back-to-back points to win the set 15-12 and the match 3-2.
 
Concordia closes out their regular season road slate tomorrow afternoon as they take on Sioux Falls at 4 p.m. before returning home to host Augustana and #3 Wayne State next weekend.