DENVER, Colo. – The sixth-ranked Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (7-1) picked up a four-set win (27-25, 21-25, 25-19, 25-16) over #4 MSU Denver (7-1) in the Gold Bracket semifinal before falling in three sets (17-25, 23-25, 23-25) to #15 Wayne State (8-0) in the championship of the Colorado Premier Challenge on Saturday.
 
Concordia's bid to claim their eighth Colorado Premier Challenge crown hit a snag as they ran into the red-hot Wildcats of Wayne State in the title match. CSP saw their longest winning streak to start the season since winning the first 13 in a row in 2016 snapped with the loss. The two schools won't have to wait long for a rematch as they are scheduled to meet in the NSIC opener next Friday, Sept. 9 in Wayne, Neb. In the first match of conference play.
 
Concordia had a pair of players named to the Colorado Premier Challenge All-Tournament Team as Teagan Starkey and Jasmine Mulvihill were recognized after productive weekends. Starkey had at least 42 assists in all four matches and registered a pair of double-doubles as she finished with 12.69 assists per set (203 total assists) to go along with 2.56 digs per set (41 total digs) over the matches. Mulvihill added two double-doubles of her own as she tallied at least 15 kills in each match, putting up 4.37 kills per set (70 total kills) and 2.94 digs per set (47 total digs) on the weekend.
 
#6 Concordia-St. Paul 3, #4 MSU Denver 1
In the Gold Bracket semifinal against the hosts, Concordia ground their way to victory as they booked their spot in the title match.
 
It was Concordia's defense that shined in the first match of the day as they held the Roadrunners to just .141 hitting, including marks of .053 and -.086, with seven and eight kills, respectively, in the final two sets of the day. On the offensive side, CSP managed 58 kills with a .222 hitting percentage to claim the win.
 
In addition to their hitting edge, Concordia outpaced MSU Denver 58-54 in digs, 7-4 in aces and 9-7 in blocks.
 
Jasmine Mulvihill continued her dominant start to the season with her seventh straight match with at least 15 kills, finishing with 17 kills and 17 digs for her fourth double-double of the season. She hit .306 in the match while also contributing three aces, three assists and two blocks.
 
Sophia Andersen followed with 16 kills and a pair of blocks while Kennedy Brady needed just 17 swing to collect 11 kills and a .588 hitting percentage to go along with three blocks. Teagan Starkey finished with 44 assists and eight digs while Emma Schmidt led all players with 20 digs in the match. Katie Mattson added six blocks and six kills in the win.
 
Ashlyn Cianciulli paced the Roadrunners with 14 digs while Kaylee Corsentino picked up 12 kills in the loss.
 
It was MSUD that got off to a fast start in the opening set as they scored eight of the first 11 points before pushing it to 11-4 before CSP came storming back. The Golden Bears responded with a 6-0 burst to trim the gap to one, but MSU Denver continued to cling to the lead at 16-14. Concordia answered with four of the next five to take their first lead of the set. Down the stretch, the two teams traded points with nine ties the rest of the way until back-to-back points secured a 27-25 set win.
 
The Roadrunners strung together an early 5-0 run in the second set to build a 9-5 advantage and take the lead for good. CSP eventually pulled within a point at 18-17, but they weren't able to complete the comeback as MSUD held on to take the set 25-21 and even the match at 1-1.
 
After falling behind 4-3 in the third set, the Golden Bears took control with an 8-1 run to jump out to an 11-5 lead. MSUD answered with the next five points to close the gap to one, but another 7-0 run in favor of CSP two points later put it out of reach. The lead would not shrink below five the rest of the way as Concordia went on to win it 25-19.
 
It was another big run that gave Concordia the decisive edge in the fourth set as six consecutive points turned a 10-8 deficit into a 14-10 lead. Three straight the other way trimmed the lead to 14-13, but MSU Denver managed just three points for the remainder of the set as the Golden Bears went on to secure the four-set win with a 25-16 win in the fourth.
 
#15 Wayne State 3, #6 Concordia-St. Paul 0
In a preview of next weekend's NSIC opener, Wayne State put together a dominant showing as they hit .301 while holding CSP to .188 in the sweep.
 
The Golden Bears managed to collect more kills than the Wildcats with a 46-44 edge, while also leading the way with a 5-2 edge in aces, WSC limited their mistakes as they committed just 10 hitting errors and two service errors for the match to aid their effort.
 
Jasmine Mulvihill once again paced the squad offensively with 16 kills and a .282 hitting percentage as she tallied eight digs. Sophia Andersen and Emma Schmidt joined her in double figures with 11 and 10 kills, respectively, as Andersen added three blocks and Schmidt chipped in 12 digs for the double-double.
 
Ellie Sieling eclipsed Schmidt with 13 digs while Teagan Starkey finished with 42 assists and five digs.
 
The duo of Kelsie Cada and Taya Beller was impressive for the Wildcats as Cada finished with 15 kills and 11 digs while Beller had 14 kills and a .400 hitting percentage in the win. Havyn Heinz led all players with 14 digs for WSC.
 
The Wildcats came out firing with the first three points and five of the first six in the match, but the Golden Bears quickly turned the tide to take their first lead at 8-7. That lead proved to be short-lived as the next five points went in favor of WSC as they took the lead for good. Wayne State slowly improved the advantage from there as they took the set by a score of 25-17.
 
After 10 ties through the first 22 points in the second set, WSC grabbed an edge with five of the next six to build a 17-12 lead. They continued to maintain a slim lead until the later stages when CSP rallied with a 4-1 burst to tie it up at 23-23, but back-to-back kills for the Wildcats secured a 25-23 set win and a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
Concordia got off to a much better start in the third set as they scored four of the first five before taking an 8-3 lead, but the Wildcats battled their way back in it. A 7-1 run put WSC in front before CSP quickly regained their edge. The Golden Bears eventually extended their advantage to as many as six at 19-13 and again at 20-14 before another big run from Wayne State shifted the momentum. The Wildcats scored the next eight in a row to take a 22-20 lead before CSP steadied the ship to tie it back up at 22-22. WSC was back on the attack from there with three of the final four points to complete the sweep with a 25-23 set win.