BEMIDJI, Minn. – The third-ranked Concordia Golden Bears volleyball team (16-2, 9-1 NSIC) made 25 sets won in a row as they took all three sets (25-17, 25-12, 25-15) at Bemidji State (3-15, 2-8 NSIC) on Friday night.
 
In addition to keeping their set streak alive, CSP extended their overall winning streak to nine and their winning streak against the Beavers to 35 as they moved to 37-8-1 in the all-time series with BSU.
 
The Golden Bears controlled play from the serving line as they set a new program record in a three-set match and matched the overall school record with 16 aces in the win. The only two previous times that Concordia reached the mark came all the way back in 2002, prior to the switch to the 25-point scoring format. CSP had at least four aces in all three sets, including a staggering eight in the second set.
 
Abby Stark and Ellie Sieling combined for 10 of the team's 16 aces with both collecting five apiece. Sieling added six digs while Stark had five.
 
Concordia's offense also remained red hot as they needed just 83 swings to collect 43 kills, hitting .422 in the win. It was the ninth match in a row that the Golden Bears cleared .300 hitting and the third time in four matches their cleared .400.
                                                                         
Jasmine Mulvihill just missed out on a double-double as she collected 10 kills and nine digs to go along with a pair of blocks as she hit .350 on the night. Emma Schmidt led the team with 12 kills as she added seven digs and two aces while hitting .417.
 
Katie Mattson was nearly perfect on her 11 swings as she finished with eight kills and a .727 hitting percentage while Makenna Berger used just 13 attempts in two sets to pick up nine kills and a hitting percentage of .692. Teagan Starkey pulled the strings with 36 assists while chipping in three digs and a pair of aces in the win.
 
Annie Hopp led BSU with seven digs while Rylie Bjerklie paced the squad with six kills in the loss.
 
After the two teams split the first eight points of the match, Concordia started to take control with six of the next eight points to build a 10-6 advantage. That proved to be a lead that the Golden Bears would not relinquish as a 6-1 run later in the set extended it to eight at 20-12. CSP would eventually take the opening set by the same margin at 25-17.
 
CSP got off to a fast start in the second set as they scored five in a row to jump out to a quick 6-1 lead. The Beavers eventually trimmed the deficit all the way down to one at 9-8, but they managed just four points for the rest of the set as Concordia was aided by an 8-0 run as a part of a larger 12-1 burst en route to winning the second set 25-12.
 
It was more of the same in the third set as the Golden Bears scored five consecutive points to spark a 15-4 run to push the lead to double figures at 16-6. The lead would not shrink below eight the rest of the way as Concordia cruised to a 25-15 third set win and a sweep on the night.
 
CSP will look to extend their winning streak to double digits tomorrow afternoon as they take on Minnesota Crookston at 2 p.m.