ST. PAUL, Minn. – The fifth-ranked Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (10-2, 3-1 NSIC) put together a strong display on their home court as they swept (25-18, 25-10, 25-22) seventh-ranked Southwest Minnesota State (11-1, 3-1 NSIC) on Saturday afternoon at Gangelhoff Center.
 
The Golden Bears moved to 6-0 at home on the year and 40-27-1 all-time against the Mustangs with the victory.
 
Concordia's servers had SMSU on their heels throughout the match as they finished with a 6-1 advantage in service aces while consistently pushing the Mustangs out of system. CSP held Southwest Minnesota State to just .113 hitting while the Golden Bears hit .314 with 42 kills and just nine errors in the win. CSP's blockers also made things tough for Southwest Minnesota State as they tallied a 12.0-3.0 edge in blocks.
 
Katie Mattson had a hand in three-quarters of the team's blocks as she registered a career-high nine blocks (two solo and seven block assists) while she hit .500 with seven kills on the day.
 
Halle Bemmels collected her first career double-double in the win as she put up 35 assists to go along with a career-best 11 digs in the victory. She was one of three players in double digits in digs as Ellie Sieling finished with 14 digs and three aces while Emma Schmidt had 10 as well as six kills and three blocks
 
Jasmine Mulvihill paced the squad with 13 kills while she added six digs and four blocks. Sophia Andersen joined her in double figures with 11 kills as she hit .588 on her 17 attempts while she also added three blocks.
 
Rachel Fink and McKenzie Tolk each finished with 10 digs in the loss for SMSU.
 
After Concordia opened with three of the first four points of the match, Southwest Minnesota State took control with four in a row and 10 of the next 13 to build a 10-6 lead. That lead proved to be short-lived as CSP responded with seven straight points to take the lead for good. With the gap still at two at 20-18, the Golden Bears finished strong with a 5-0 run to win the opening set 25-18.
 
The momentum carried into the second set as the Golden Bears opened with a 9-1 run before quickly extending their lead to double digits at 14-3. That lead would not shrink below nine the rest of the way as a late 4-0 burst ballooned the margin all the way to 15 at the final score of 25-10.
 
The two teams jostled for the lead for much of the final set with 15 ties and nine lead changes after a combined three and two, respectively, for the first two sets. Concordia used a 4-0 run midway through the set to build a 15-13 advantage before a 3-0 run the other way a few points later put SMSU back in front at 17-16. After a few more lead changes, the Mustangs took their final lead of the night at 20-19 before the Golden Bears finished on a 6-2 run to finish off the sweep with a 25-22 win in the third.
 
CSP is back on the road next weekend as they travel to Northern State on Friday and MSU Moorhead on Saturday.