ST. PAUL, Minn. - The fifth-ranked Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (8-2, 1-1 NSIC) is set to open their conference home slate this weekend as they host Sioux Falls (6-3, 2-0 NSIC) on Friday and seventh-ranked Southwest Minnesota State (10-0, 2-0 NSIC) on Saturday.

YOUTH DAY
Saturday's matchup between the Golden Bears and Mustangs is Youth Day at Gangelhoff Center. Tickets for children ages 6-12 are available at the gate for $1 while children five and under get in free. Group sales for middle school and high school teams are $2 per person.

BUY TICKETS TO HOME GAMES ONLINE
Fans are encouraged to buy tickets in advance and bring your QR code to the gates to skip the line! Friends and families who utilize the pass list will also be utilizing the online ticketing service while all students, faculty & staff will access their free CSP tickets through the service. Fans do not need to create a login, remember a username or password or download an app to purchase tickets, and tickets can still be purchased with cash at the gates. Find out more in the partnership announcement between CSP Athletics and HomeTown Ticketing.
 
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.

SIOUX FALLS SERIES HISTORY
On Friday, the meeting between the Golden Bears and Cougars marks the 18th all-time meeting between the two schools with CSP holding an 12-5 record in the 17 previous meetings. Since Sioux Falls joined the NSIC, Concordia won the first nine contests, including six sweeps, but USF has taken two of the last four meetings. CSP and USF have met eight times in St. Paul heading into the weekend with Concordia claiming six wins in those eight matches.

LAST MEETING VS USF
Back on Oct. 22, 2021, CSP extended their unbeaten run in conference play to 12 as they swept (26-24, 25-22, 25-20) Sioux Falls on the road.

Concordia utilized a consistent attack throughout the night as they hit .333 or better in all three sets to finish at .353, collecting 51 kills on 102 attempts. On the other side of the net, the Cougars tallied a .279 hitting percentage with 43 kills on 104 attempts. CSP added a slim 31-27 edge in digs to go along with a 10.5-6.0 edge in blocks and a 5-1 edge in service aces.
 
The duo of Jasmine Mulvihill and Emma Schmidt paced the offense as they combined for 33 of the team's 51 kills on the night. Mulvihill finished with a team-leading 18 kills while falling one block shy of her career best with seven and also chipping in four digs and three aces. Schmidt was nearly perfect offensively as she collected 15 kills with no errors on 22 swings to finish with a .682 hitting percentage to go along with 12 digs.
 
Teagan Starkey and Ellie Veldman split the setting duties as Starkey finished with 28 and Veldman added 17. Tori Hanson led the team with 12 digs in the win.
 
SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA STATE SERIES HISTORY
The Golden Bears and Mustangs head into the weekend with an extensive history as Concordia has met SMSU more times than any other program on the volleyball court. In the previous 67 meetings, CSP holds an edge of 39-27-1 over Southwest Minnesota State with a 26-10 advantage in NSIC play. Concordia has found more success in St. Paul as they have gone 20-12 in the 32 meetings on their home court.

LAST MEETING VS SMSU
Back on Oct. 23, 2021, CSP dropped their first conference match of the season as they fell to then-#14 Southwest Minnesota State in four sets (22-25, 25-20, 18-25, 11-25).

Southwest Minnesota State became the first team to clear the .300 mark hitting against CSP since Winona State hit .317 on Oct. 15, 2019, snapping a 39-match streak of opponents hitting below that mark. SMSU finished with a .314 hitting percentage, collecting 66 kills with 18 errors on 153 attempts. Concordia, on the other side, hit .207 with 47 kills and 18 errors on 140 attempts.
 
The Golden Bears did hold an edge in blocking at 10.0-5.0 while both teams picked up four aces and SMSU claimed a slim 64-62 advantage in digs.
 
Tori Hanson once again paced the squad with 17 digs, giving her 13 straight matches in double figures and seven of the last nine with 15 or more. Ellianna Wiertsema also reached double figures with 12.
 
Kennedy Brady, Jasmine Mulvihill and Emma Schmidt all surpassed double figures in kills as Brady and Mulvihill each finished with 12 and Schmidt had 11. Brady hit a team-best .407, Mulvihill added six digs and two blocks, and Schmidt finished a dig shy of a double-double with nine. Teagan Starkey supplied 23 assists and Ellie Veldman added 18.

LAST TIME OUT
Last weekend, the Golden Bears picked up a road split as they were swept by then-#5 Wayne State before knocking off then-#24 Augustana in four sets.

In the match with WSC, CSP's attack couldn't have been much more evenly spread out as four different players registered exactly 10 kills while Jasmine Mulvihill followed close behind with eight. Katie Mattson turned her 17 swings into 10 kills as she hit a team-best .529 while Emma Schmidt and Kennedy Brady had identical 10-3-20 lines to finish at .350. Sophia Andersen joined the trio with 10 kills on 26 attempts. Teagan Starkey collected her third double-double of the season with 30 assists and 11 digs while Ellie Sieling paced the squad with 12 digs.

In Saturday's win, three different CSP players registered at least 16 digs on the night as Emma Schmidt led the way with 19 digs while falling a kill short of a double-double with nine. Ellie Sieling followed with 17 digs while Payton Stier chipped in 16. The team finished with a season-best 68 digs in the win.

On the weekend, Katie Mattson hit an efficient .447 with 3.00 kills per set while also contributing 1.00 blocks per set. Emma Schmidt filled the stat sheet as well with 3.86 digs per set and 2.71 kills per set over the two matches. Ellie Sieling paced the squad with 4.14 digs per set.
 
IN THE POLLS
Following an opening weekend split in NSIC play, the Golden Bears moved to #5 in the latest poll. Concordia has been a mainstay near the top of the poll for over a decade as they did rank 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 all but one season.

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

Teagan Starkey's 12.76 assists per set rank first in the country as she has guided the offense to a third-ranked 15.14 kills per set through 10 matches. Jasmine Mulvihill has been the top option in the high-powered attack as her 4.38 kills per set rank 15th in the nation and second in the NSIC while her 5.01 points per set rank 12th and second, respectively.

Kennedy Brady has been one of the most efficient hitter in the conference early in the year as her .343 hitting percentage ranks 71st in the country and eighth in the league. Emma Schmidt also ranks inside the top-10 in the NSIC in a pair of categories as she ranks ninth with 14 service aces and 10th with 129 digs.