WAYNE, Neb. – The second-seeded and third-ranked Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (29-5) battled back from a 2-0 deficit to claim their 12^th NCAA Central Region Championship with a thrilling five-set win (24-26, 17-25, 25-19, 25-21, 15-13) over fifth-seeded and seventh-ranked St. Cloud State (28-6) on Sunday afternoon at Rice Auditorium on the campus of Wayne State.
 
For the first time since 2017 and 12^th time in 19 trips to the NCAA Tournament under head coach Brady Starkey, the Golden Bears have booked their ticket to the NCAA Elite Eight as their pursuit of a record 10^th NCAA Division II Volleyball Championship is set to continue in Seattle, Wash. on Dec. 1-3.
 
Concordia improved to an incredible 76-9 all-time in the tournament and 12-6 in region title matches. CSP also moved to 32-3 in the all-time series against the Huskies, claiming their second win in as many years in the NCAA Tournament against SCSU.
 
In a match filled with twists and turns, the fifth set proved to be the most dramatic as it featured four ties and four lead changes in a wild exchange of runs. The Huskies took two out of the first three points before a 6-1 for the Golden Bears burned both of SCSU's timeouts as CSP took a 7-3 lead. St. Cloud State quickly regained control as they rattled off eight points in a row to build an 11-7 edge. Concordia responded with a crucial 6-0 run, aided by a successful string of challenges, to take the lead for good at 13-11. St. Cloud State pushed the Golden Bears to the final point as they pulled back within a point at 13-12 and again at 14-13 before Andersen drilled a kill off the block to cue the celebration.
 
Very little separated the two teams statistically as CSP held slim advantages of .269-.247 in hitting percentage, 65-59 in kills, 69-60 in digs and 9.0-.7.0 in blocks while both teams had seven aces.
 
Teagan Starkey once again got all her hitters involved as five different Golden Bears finished in double figures in kills while she dished out 60 assists to go along with 14 digs. It was her fourth match of the season and second in a row against the Huskies that she cleared 60 or more assists.
 
Jasmine Mulvihill paced the squad with 13 kills while she matched Ellie Sieling with a match-high 17 digs to go along with five blocks in an impressive line. Emma Schmidt, Katie Mattson and Sophia Andersen all collected 11 kills while Kennedy Brady followed with 10. Schmidt chipped in eight digs while Brady had a match-high seven blocks and .429 hitting percentage.
 
Starkey, Mulvihill, Schmidt, Mattson and Brady represented the Golden Bears on the All-Tournament Team while Kenzie Foley, Linsey Rachel and Phebie Rossi earned spots for St. Cloud State.
 
Foley and Rachel each contributed double-doubles as Foley had 21 kills and 14 digs while Rachel had 13 kills and 12 digs. Rossi added 12 kills and three blocks in the loss.
 
After splitting the first eight points of the match, the Golden Bears grabbed three points in a row to take a 7-4 lead. The two teams traded points from there as CSP maintained a slim advantage until the late stages of the set. With Concordia holding a four-point edge at 22-18, the Huskies started to chip away. Back-to-back points for SCSU trimmed it to two before a 4-0 run just one point later put St. Cloud State in the driver's seat at set point at 24-23. CSP erased one set point before SCSU scored two more to cap off an 8-2 run to win it 26-24.
 
The Huskies carried the momentum into the second set as they scored seven of the first 10 points to build an early advantage. CSP clawed their way back to tie it up at 11-11 to set up a stretch of five ties over nine points, but they were unable to get over the hump as St. Cloud State took over from there. SCSU rattled off six straight points to spark a 10-2 run as they took a 2-0 lead in the match with a 25-17 set win.
 
The Golden Bears showed their resilience in the third as they turned an early 3-1 St. Cloud State lead into an 8-3 lead of their own with a 7-0 run. The Huskies battled back to within three at 10-7 before an 8-1 run for CSP put it out of reach at 18-8. A late rally from SCSU closed the gap a bit before Concordia extended the match to a fourth set with a 25-19 win in the third.
 
St. Cloud State looked to turn things back in their favor in the fourth set as they scored three of the first four points before extending their lead to four at 10-6, but Concordia once again battled their way back in it. With the Huskies still up three at 12-9, CSP rattled off five of the next six to spur a 13-5 burst to build a 22-17 advantage. SCSU managed to trim it to a pair at 22-20 and again at 23-21, but the Golden Bears pushed it to a memorable fifth set with a 25-21 victory.