ST. PAUL, Minn. - The third-ranked and top-seeded Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (29-5) continues play in the NCAA Tournament this week as they face eighth-seeded Southern New Hampshire (19-7) in the national quarterfinal at 9:30 p.m. on Thursday night at Royal Brougham Pavilion on the campus up Seattle Pacific.
 
NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY
The Golden Bears have made it into the NCAA Tournament field in all 19 seasons under head coach Brady Starkey and have won 12 Central Region titles during that span. CSP has gone 76-9 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and has collected a record nine NCAA Division II National Championships, including a 43-match winning streak that was snapped in the 2014 Central Region semifinals by Southwest Minnesota State.

In Concordia's 11 previous times advancing past the regional, the Golden Bears have amassed a record of 29-2 at the national site and have gone 10-1 in the national quarterfinal (Elite Eight) all-time. CSP has won 27 in a row in the Elite Eight field as they went a perfect 3-0 in all nine of their national title seasons. The Golden Bears made their first trip in program history to the Elite Eight in 2003 as they fell in the National Championship to North Alabama. They also made the trip in 2005, dropping their quarterfinal match to Tampa.

SERIES HISTORY VS THE FIELD

• Southern New Hampshire: 0-0
• Cal State Los Angeles: 0-0
• Gannon (Pa.): 0-1
• Barry (Fla.): 3-0
• West Texas A&M: 3-0
• Wingate (N.C.): 2-0
• Missouri-St. Louis: 0-0

LAST MEETING VS THE FIELD

• Southern New Hampshire: N/A
• Cal State Los Angeles: N/A
• Gannon (Pa.): L, 2-3 on Aug. 27, 1999 in Mankato, Minn.
• Barry (Fla.): W, 3-0 on Aug. 25, 2007 in St. Paul, Minn.
• West Texas A&M: W, 3-0 on Dec. 5, 2009 in St. Paul, Minn.
• Wingate (N.C.): W, 3-0 on Sept. 8, 2013 in St. Paul, Minn.
• Missouri-St. Louis: N/A

LAST TIME OUT
Back on Nov. 20, #3 Concordia battled back from a 2-0 deficit to claim their 12th NCAA Central Region Championship with a thrilling five-set win (24-26, 17-25, 25-19, 25-21, 15-13) over #7 St. Cloud State at Rice Auditorium on the campus of Wayne State.

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.

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.

IN THE POLLS
In the last poll of the regular season, the Golden Bears remained at #3 in the AVCA Coaches Poll. Concordia has been a mainstay near the top of the poll for nearly two decades as they have only ranked outside the top-10 for three weeks since 2003, never ranking below #15. The Golden Bears have spent an incredible 83 weeks at #1 since they debuted there in the 2004 preseason poll. Since the 2007 season, CSP has ranked #1 at least once in every season except 2019.

AWARD WINNERS
With awards season in full swing, Concordia-St. Paul had Katie Mattson, Jasmine Mulvihill, Emma Schmidt and Teagan Starkey named to the First Team as well as Sophia Andersen and Kennedy Brady named to the Second Team. The Golden Bears matched their program record set back in 2008 with six All-NSIC picks. 

CSP also had Mulvihill, Schmidt and Starkey named AVCA All-Region First Team while Mattson earned honorable mention. Mulvihill added D2CCA First Team honors while Starkey was named to the Second Team.

STAT LEADERS
So far this season, the Golden Bears rank near the top of the nation in several statistical categories.

Teagan Starkey's 12.65 assists per set rank first in the country as she has guided the offense to a nation-leading .306 hitting percentage and a second-best 14.61 kills per set through 34 matches. Jasmine Mulvihill has been the top option in the high-powered attack as her 3.84 kills per set rank 32nd in the nation and third in the NSIC while her 4.63 points per set rank 20th and third, respectively.

Kennedy Brady has been one of the most efficient hitters in the conference this year as her .389 hitting percentage ranks 11th in the country and third in the league while Katie Mattson isn't far behind at .375, good for 26th in the nation and fourth in the conference. Mattson also ranks ninth in the league with 0.98 blocks per set while Brady ranks 11th with 0.96. CSP has two of the top-10 in aces per set in the league with Mulvihill in fifth with 0.40 per set and Emma Schmidt in ninth with 0.36 per set. Ellie Sieling also ranks 11th in digs per set at 3.33.

CLIMBING THE RANKS
After surpassing 1,000 career kills in the opening weekend of the season, Jasmine Mulvihill has continues to climb the ranks at CSP. Her 1,430 career kills are eighth in program history as she is 26 behind Tia Lindberg in seventh and 70 behind Riley Hanson in sixth. Mulvihill's 3.92 career kills per set are 0.17 ahead of Jill Kalvik for first place while her 3.84 kills per set on the season are 12th-best at Concordia.

NCAA DII FESTIVAL INFORMATION
Division II is the only NCAA division that conducts "National Championships Festivals," Olympic-style events in which a number of national championships are held at a single site over several days.

The concept was developed in the early 2000s as a way to provide student-athletes with a championships experience that exceeds what they normally would enjoy in their conference or NCAA postseason events.

The festival idea, in fact, was a response from then-NCAA President Cedric W. Dempsey, who in 2000 challenged each of the three divisions to create more awareness and excitement around the NCAA championships program, particularly for sports that don't regularly experience the limelight of a select few.

Division II's membership answered the call, staging the first festival in spring 2004 in Orlando. Since then, the festival has maintained its standing not only as an enhanced championships experience but also as a unique identifier for the Division II brand.