ST. PAUL, Minn. - The third-ranked and second-seeded Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (24-4) is set to host seventh-seeded Northern State (18-10) in the NSIC Volleyball Tournament quarterfinal on Friday at 12:00 p.m. at Gangelhoff Center.

TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets can be purchased online for the NSIC Volleyball Tournament here. All-Tournament Passes are available for $35 for adults and $15 for students (Age 6-College) while single day tickets are available for $17 for adults and $7 for students (Age 6-College) Fans are strongly encouraged to purchase tickets in advance. Ticket options include a mobile version or a print at home option. Tickets will also be available at the gate. Cash or credit cards are accepted. Skip the line! Purchase your tickets now!

For CSP students, the first 100 students will receive free admission each day with Friday's tickets sponsored by CSP Residence Life and Saturday and Sunday sponsored by Sodexo.

WATCH ONLINE – NSIC NETWORK
All Golden Bear NSIC volleyball matches will be available to watch online, free of charge, powered by the NSIC Network, supported by BlueFrame Technology. Visit nsicnetwork.com/cspbears on a laptop or desktop computer, download the NSIC Network app on your mobile device or watch on your supported OTT provider such as Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Android TV. Search "NSIC Network" and download the app for the league's full sport and team lineups. NSIC NETWORK FAQ
 
DOWNLOAD THE APP
Fans can download the CSP Bears fan app, free of charge and available in the App Store or on Google Play. The app contains rosters, schedules, scores, stats, news, social media and more! Customize your options to get notifications to your favorite teams, as well. Search "CSP Bears" in the app store to stay up-to-date on Golden Bear athletics.

NORTHERN STATE SERIES HISTORY
Friday's meeting between the Golden Bears and the Wolves marks the 47th time the two schools have met as CSP holds a record of 36-10 in the previous 46 meetings. The Golden Bears have dominated the series since 2003 as Concordia has won 34 of the past 37 meetings. All three of those wins for NSU during that stretch have come since 2015 with a four-setter in 2015, a five-setter in 2018 and a sweep last season. In 26 meetings in St. Paul, CSP has gone 22-4.

LAST MEETING VS NSU
Back on Sept. 23, the Golden Bears made in three sweeps in a row with a three-set victory at Northern State.

Concordia controlled play from the serving line and at the net as they held a massive 8-1 advantage in service aces and an 8.0-3.0 edge in blocks in the win. CSP added a 47-38 edge in kills on the night as they hit .304 compared to .214 for NSU.
 
Jasmine Mulvihill and Sophia Andersen combined for 27 of the team's 47 kills on the night as Mulvihill collected a match-best 14 while Andersen followed close behind with 13. Mulvihill chipped in eight digs and a pair of blocks while Andersen had three digs and hit .314 in the win. Kennedy Brady added eight kills and a .467 hitting percentage while she matched Katie Mattson for the team lead with four total blocks on the night.
 
Emma Schmidt was the lone Golden Bear in double figures in digs as she put up 10 as well as seven kills and two aces while Ellie Sieling had seven and Teagan Starkey chipped in six to go along with 46 assists and a pair of aces in her return to the lineup.
 
NSIC TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Entering this year, Concordia has gone 26-7 overall in the conference tournament in 13 previous trips. In those previous trips, CSP has reached the title match nine times and has won six titles (2004, 2005, 2006, 2015, 2016 and 2019). The Golden Bears have gone 11-2 in opening round matches as they have advanced to at least the semifinals in all but two seasons. Last season, Concordia fell to Augustana in four sets in the quarterfinal at Sanford Pentagon.

LAST TIME OUT
Over the weekend, Concordia claimed a four-set win over Augustana before falling to Wayne State in five sets in the regular season finale.

On Friday, CSP dominated at the net as they tallied 11.0 blocks compared to just one for the Vikings. It was the sixth time this season that the Golden Bears reached double figures in blocks and the third match in a row. The result was a .319-.169 advantage in hitting percentage and a 63-50 edge in kills for the night. CSP also held a 7-5 edge in aces and a 58-53 edge in digs in the win. Emma Schmidt picked up her third straight double-double and eighth of the season as she led all players with 17 kills while adding 11 digs and two aces in the win. She was joined in double figures in kills by Jasmine Mulvihill with 14 and in digs by Ellie Sieling with a team-best 17. Mulvihill added six digs and four blocks while Sieling chipped in an ace.
 
On Saturday, both offenses were clicking in the match as CSP finished the match at .331 hitting while WSC put up a mark of .329 The Golden Bears added a 74-57 edge in kills but committed 20 hitting errors compared to 11 for Wayne State. Serving played a role in the match as both teams collected eight aces, but the Wildcats did not have a service error while Concordia had 14. The Golden Bears also had a 13.0-12.0 advantage in blocks while both teams had 63 digs. Teagan Starkey tallied the fourth highest assist total in the 25-point scoring format at CSP as she put up 71 digs to go along with seven assists in the match. All five hitters collected double figures in kills on the day, led by 18 from Katie Mattson. Mattson hit an efficient .464 in the match as she reached double digits in kills for the third time in four matches.

After averaging 14.33 assists per set over the two matches, Teagan Starkey earned her seventh NSIC Setter of the Week selection.

IN THE POLLS
Following a 1-1 weekend, the Golden Bears remained at #3 in the AVCA Coaches Poll. Concordia has been a mainstay near the top of the poll for over a decade as they did not outside the top-10 for a single week from 2003 to 2021. 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.

In last week's second NCAA Region Rankings, Concordia was ranked second in the central region. The Golden Bears were joined by four other NSIC schools as the league represents five of the top 10 spots. The NCAA Volleyball selection show will be streamed online on Sunday, Nov. 13 at 9 p.m. (CT) on NCAA.com.

ALL-NSIC PICKS
Last week, the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) released the 2022 Volleyball All-NSIC Teams and the 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 extended their streak to 20 consecutive seasons with at least four all-conference picks as they have reached that mark every season since 2001.

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

Teagan Starkey's 12.78 assists per set rank first in the country as she, along with Halle Bemmels, has guided the offense to a nation-leading .307 hitting percentage and a second-best 14.74 kills per set through 28 matches. Jasmine Mulvihill has been the top option in the high-powered attack as her 4.04 kills per set rank 19th in the nation and first in the NSIC while her 4.81 points per set rank 11th and first, respectively.

Kennedy Brady has been one of the most efficient hitters in the conference this year as her .378 hitting percentage ranks 28th in the country and fourth in the league while Katie Mattson isn't far behind at .365, good for 42nd in the nation and fifth in the conference. Mattson also ranks 11th in the league with 0.94 blocks per set while Brady ranks 13th with 0.90. CSP has two of the top-10 in aces per set in the league with Mulvihill at sixth with 0.40 per set while Emma Schmidt at seventh with 0.40 per set. Ellie Sieling also ranks 11th in digs per set at 3.40.

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 1,354 career kills are ninth in program history as she is 74 behind Marla Garbers in eighth and 102 behind Tia Lindberg in seventh. Mulvihill's 3.98 career kills per set are 0.23 ahead of Jill Kalvik in second place while her 4.04 kills per set on the season are eighth-best at Concordia.

CHASING 600
Concordia-St. Paul head coach Brady Starkey enters the weekend with 598 career wins, just two shy of 600. In his 20 seasons at the helm, Starkey has compiled a record of 598-79, including a mark of 331-29 in NSIC play. His .883 career winning percentage is best all-time in all divisions among coaches with at least 10 years experience.