WAYNE, Neb. – The second-seeded and third-ranked Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (27-5) defeated seventh-seeded and 13^th-ranked Nebraska-Kearney (28-6) in five sets (25-19, 22-25, 17-25, 25-21, 15-10) the NCAA Division II Central Region Volleyball Tournament quarterfinal played at Rice Auditorium on the campus of Wayne State.
 
The Golden Bears improved to 17-0 in region quarterfinal matches as they advanced to the region semifinals for the 19th consecutive season under head coach Brady Starkey. CSP will face Minnesota Duluth on Saturday night at 5 p.m. for a spot in the region championship match.
 
Trailing 16-9 in the fourth set and 2-1 in the match, Concordia caught fire as they scored 16 of the final 22 points of the set and 31 of the final 47 to rally for a five-set victory. "We had to remind ourselves that we don't have anything to lose, and when we play like that, we play a lot more free and have a lot more fun on the court," said junior middle blocker Katie Mattson. Jasmine Mulvihill added, "The fourth set was a big turnaround for us as things started to flow at the end of the set and we carried that into the fifth. We It was a big win and every win from here on out is a big win for anybody."
 
Concordia's block caused major issues for the UNK attack as CSP registered their second highest block total in the 25-point scoring format and highest total since Nov. 21, 2014 with 17.0. Mattson led the way with a career-best 10 blocks as she added 11 kills and a .333 hitting percentage for her first career double-double. She became the first Golden Bear since Heather Schiller on Nov. 8, 2014 to reach double figures in blocks in a match.
 
All five hitters surpassed double digits in kills as CSP finished with a 66-58 edge in kills as well as a .281-.224 edge in hitting percentage in the win. Jasmine Mulvihill flirted with a triple-double with 14 kills, eight blocks, eight digs and four aces while Emma Schmidt led the way with 16 kills and 14 digs in the win. Kennedy Brady tallied 12 kills and seven blocks while Makenna Berger chipped in 11 kills and five blocks while hitting .304.
 
Concordia had four reach double figures in digs as they edged UNK 69-57 in the category. Schmidt was matched by both Ellie Sieling and Cassie Sieling for the team lead with 14 digs. Teagan Starkey contributed 11 digs to go along with 58 assists as she cleared 50 for the sixth time in eight matches.
 
Nebraska-Kearney's Emerson Cyza had a match-high 19 kills while Peyton Neff collected 49 assists and nine digs in the loss.
 
After the two teams split the first 16 points of the match, the Golden Bears took control with a 5-0 run to take a 13-8 lead. The Lopers responded with three straight to trim the deficit to two, but CSP was right back on the offensive with four points in a row to make it 17-11. Concordia maintained a lead of five or more for the duration of the set as they took the opening set 25-19.
 
The Lopers flipped the script in set two as they opened with six of the first nine points before leading nearly the entire set. CSP evened it up at 9-9 and again at 10-10 before a 4-1 run gave UNK the lead for good. That lead grew to as many as five at 19-14 and again at 23-18 before a late Concordia push trimmed it to a pair at 24-22, but a Loper kill evened the match at 1-1 as they took the set 25-22.
 
Nebraska-Kearney jumped out to an early lead again in the third as they scored five of the first seven, but the Golden Bears quickly responded with an 8-2 run to build a 10-7 advantage. That wouldn't last long, however, as the Lopers took nine of the next 12 to regain the lead at 16-13. They continued to add to their lead from there as they went on to win the set 25-17.
 
Concordia found themselves in an early hole in the fourth set as Nebraska-Kearney scored four of the first five points before CSP tied it up at 5-5. The Lopers regained their advantage as they rattled off an extended 11-4 run to push their lead to 16-9. The Golden Bears would not go away, however, as they scored four straight and eight of nine points to tie it back up at 17-17. UNK briefly retook the lead with back-to-back points, but Concordia steamrolled their way to a 25-21 set win with another 8-2 run.
 
The Golden Bears were forced to play from behind again in the fifth as UNK opened on a 4-1 run, but they once again showed their resilience with a crucial 4-0 run a couple points later to take a 6-5 lead. After the Lopers tied it back up with a point of their own, Concordia scored the next two to take the lead for good. Nebraska-Kearney managed to pull within a point at 8-7 and again at 10-9 before one final 4-0 run pushed CSP over the top in a 15-10 set win.