ABERDEEN, S.D. – The #3 Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (11-2, 4-1 NSIC) made it three sweeps in a row as they swept Northern State (7-6. 2-3 NSIC) on Friday night.
 
The Golden Bears picked up their 34^th win in the past 37 meetings with the Wolves as they improved to 36-10 in the all-time series and 13-6 in Aberdeen.
 
Concordia once again 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.
 
Taylor Buckley led the way for Northern State as she finished with a match-best 17 digs and a team-best 12 kills and .417 hitting percentage in the loss.
 
With just one point separating the two teams at 8-7 in the opening set, Concordia rattled off three straight points to give themselves some breathing room. Another 4-0 run a few points later extended the lead to 19-11 before NSU answered with four points of their own to cut it back to four at 19-15. The lead would not shrink below four the rest of the set as CSP cruised to a 25-19 win in the first.
 
It was the Wolves that jumped ahead in set two as they turned a 5-4 deficit into an 11-7 lead with a 7-2 burst. That lead reached five at 14-9, but the Golden Bears quickly shifted the momentum as they scored five in a row to tie it up at 14-14. After two NSU points, CSP rattled off another 4-0 run to take the lead at 18-16. Northern State tied it back up at 20-20, but Concordia scored four of the next five before holding off NSU to win the set 25-23.
 
After Northern State grabbed a 5-3 lead early in the third, the Golden Bears surged in front with a big 11-2 run to double up NSU at 14-7. The Wolves slowly clawed their way back in it, trimming the deficit to three at 17-14, but they managed just three points the rest of the way as Concordia secured the three-set win with a 25-17 victory in the final set.
 
CSP will look to carry the momentum into Saturday as they travel to MSU Moorhead. First serve is scheduled for 2 p.m.