ST. PAUL, Minn. - The #3 Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (12-2, 5-1 NSIC) returns home for homecoming weekend as they host UMary (2-12, 1-5 NSIC) on Friday and Minot State (0-13, 0-6 NSIC) on Saturday at Gangelhoff Center.

HOMECOMING 2022
This Saturday's volleyball match between CSP and MiSU marks Concordia's homecoming with a 5 p.m. start following the noon football game against Minnesota State at Sea Foam Stadium. Fans who have purchased a Homecoming wristband receive free admission to football and volleyball on Saturday and Comet's Carnival which is open from 2-5 p.m. on Saturday on the Sea Foam Stadium plaza. Perks for the wristband include unlimited rides and food! Prices are $30 for adults (13+), $15 for children (4-12) with children under four are free. CSP students (with ID) will receive free admission. Register at one.csp.edu/homecoming2022, or purchase a wristband at the registration tent at Sea Foam Stadium on game day. Those who have already purchased tickets to the game can proceed to the registration tent to purchase a wristband for $15 for adults (13+) and $10 for children (4-12) with children under four free.

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.

UMARY SERIES HISTORY
Heading into Friday's meeting between the Golden Bears and the Marauders, CSP has won all 22 meetings between the two schools. 19 of those 22 wins have been sweeps as Concordia has won 66 of 70 sets. After pushing the Golden Bears to five sets in 2007, UMary grabbed another set in 2017 before taking another last season in Bismarck.

LAST MEETING VS UMARY
Back on Nov. 12, 2021, CSP picked up a four-set win at UMary in the final weekend of the regular season.

The Golden Bears led in nearly every statistical category as they edged UMary 61-42 in kills, 69-59 in digs and 9-3 in service aces while both teams had 8.0 blocks. CSP also claimed a .230-.175 advantage in hitting percentage on the night.
 
Jasmine Mulvihill and Kennedy Brady combined for 38 of the team's 61 kills in the win as Mulvihill matched her season high with 22 kills and Brady set a new season best with 16 kills. Mulvihill added 11 digs, three blocks and two aces for her eighth double-double of the season while Brady hit .452.
 
Tori Hanson, Emma Schmidt and Ellianna Wiertsema all joined Mulvihill in double figures in digs as Hanson and Schmidt each had 16 and Wiertsema chipped in 14. Teagan Starkey matched her career high with 38 assists while Ellie Veldman added 18.
 
MINOT STATE SERIES HISTORY
The Golden Bears enter Saturday's meeting with the Beavers with a 12-0 record, claiming sweeps in 10 of the 12 meetings. CSP has won 36 of 38 sets as Minot State took a set in 2013 another in 2019, both in Minot.

LAST MEETING VS MiSU
Back on Nov. 13, 2021, CSP closed out the regular season with a road sweep of Minot State.

The Golden Bears put up a strong performance both offensively and defensively as they finished with a .378 hitting percentage with 43 kills and just nine errors while holding MiSU to .096 with 24 kills and 15 errors in the win. Concordia added a decisive 46-33 edge in digs, a 7-3 edge in aces and a 4.0-3.0 edge in blocks on the night.
 
Sophia Andersen finished as the lone Golden Bear in double figures in kills while Emma Schmidt was only one in double figures in digs. Andersen hit an efficient .385 with 12 kills while Schmidt tallied 12 digs and five kills.
 
Jasmine Mulvihill hit .400 with nine kills and six digs while Makenna Berger also added six digs to the winning effort. Ellie Veldman finished with 17 assists and two blocks while Teagan Starkey had 14 assists.

LAST TIME OUT
Last weekend, the Golden Bears grabbed a pair of sweeps on the road as they knocked off NSU on Friday and MSUM on Saturday.

On Friday, 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.

In Saturday's win, it was a dominant all-around performance as the Golden Bears hit an impressive .324 with 44 kills while holding the Dragons to -.020 with 17 kills in the match. It marked the first time since Oct. 18, 2016 against Minnesota State that Concordia hit above .300 and held their opponent below .000 in the same match. The 17 kills allowed were also the fewest allowed since Rollins finished with just 13 back on Aug. 25, 2018.

On the weekend, Teagan Starkey contributed 14.17 assists per set to go along with 3.17 digs per set, 0.83 aces per set and 0.67 blocks per set to earn NSIC Setter of the Week honors for the third time this season.
 
IN THE POLLS
Following a pair of sweeps on the road, the Golden Bears remained at #3 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 12.97 assists per set rank first in the country as she, along with Halle Bemmels, has guided the offense to a second-best 15.18 kills per set through 14 matches. Jasmine Mulvihill has been the top option in the high-powered attack as her 4.55 kills per set rank ninth in the nation and second in the NSIC while her 5.15 points per set rank seventh and second, respectively.

Kennedy Brady has been one of the most efficient hitters in the conference early in the year as her .353 hitting percentage ranks 52nd in the country and sixth in the league. Ellie Sieling ranks fifth in the conference with 20 service aces while Katie Mattson ranks ninth with 0.98 blocks per set and Sophia Anderson ranks ninth with 3.17 kills per set.

ALL-TIME 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 1,177 career kills are good for 15th in program history as she sits four kills behind assistant coach Whitney Meierotto-Simon in 14th and 17 behind Maria Steinhagen in 13th. Mulvihill's 4.06 career kills per set are 0.31 ahead of Jill Kalvik in second place while her 4.55 kills per set on the season are third-best at Concordia.