ST. PAUL, Minn. - The third-ranked Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (7-1, 0-0 NSIC) opens NSIC play on the road this weekend as they travel to fifth-ranked Wayne State (9-0, 0-0 NSIC) on Friday and 24th-ranked Augustana (8-0, 0-0 NSIC) on Saturday.

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.

WAYNE STATE SERIES HISTORY
On Friday, the Golden Bears take on the Wildcats for the 51st time in the all-time series as CSP holds a record of 35-15 against WSC heading into the matchup. Since Wayne State won seven of the first eight meetings of the series, Concordia has rattled off 34 wins in the past 41 contests. That stretch included 19 wins in a row for CSP spanning from 2003-2009. In 18 meetings in Wayne, CSP has gone 15-3 against the Wildcats.

LAST MEETING VS WSC
Last Saturday in the championship match of the Colorado Premier Challenge, the Golden Bears fell to the Wildcats in three sets.

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.
 
AUGUSTANA SERIES HISTORY
Concordia enters Saturday's contest with the Vikings with a record of 27-2 in the all-time series with the Vikings. Augustana's first win came back in 1988 as CSP won the next 27 meetings before Augie claimed their second win in the NSIC Tournament last season. While the Golden Bears have consistently come out on top against Augie, eight of the last nine meetings have gone more than three sets, with four of which going five sets as Concordia has had to come from behind in all four of those matches. The Golden Bears have won all 11 meetings between the two schools in Sioux Falls.

LAST MEETING VS AU
Back on Nov. 18, 2021, CSP fell in four sets (25-17, 32-34, 13-25, 23-25) to Augustana in the NSIC Tournament quarterfinal at Sanford Pentagon.

Jasmine Mulvihill collected her ninth double-double of the season while matching her season best with 22 kills, a mark she has now hit three times. She committed just six errors on her 40 attempts to finish with a .400 hitting percentage to go along with her 10 digs.
 
Tori Hanson and Emma Schmidt matched each other with a team-best 13 digs in the contest while Hanson added four assists and Schmidt had nine kills and three aces. Teagan Starkey compiled 32 assists while Ellie Veldman chipped in 16.
 
Maddy Guetter was the go-to hitter for the Vikings as she also finished with 22 kills in addition to 17 digs and a pair of aces in the win. Payton Rosendahl and Kate Reimann added 13 kills apiece while Avery Thorson picked up 50 assists on the day.

LAST TIME OUT
Last weekend in the Colorado Premier Challenge, the Golden Bears picked up top-20 victories over #18 Lewis, #3 Western Washington and #4 MSU Denver before falling to #15 Wayne State in the title match.

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 championship. 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.
 
IN THE POLLS
After their strong start to the season, the Golden Bears moved up to #3 in the nation in the latest AVCA Poll after spending the first two weeks at #6. 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 13.03 assists per set rank first in the country as she has guided the offense to nation-leading 15.33 kills per set through eight matches. Jasmine Mulvihill has been the top option in the high-powered attack as her 4.70 kills per set rank sixth in the nation and lead the NSIC while her 5.30 points per set rank eighth and second, respectively.

Kennedy Brady has been one of the most efficient hitter in the conference early in the year as her .374 hitting percentage ranks 52nd in the country and fifth in the league. CSP also has a pair of players inside the top-10 in the NSIC in service aces as Ellie Sieling ranks fifth with 13 (0.43 per set) and Emma Schmidt ranks sixth with 12 (0.40 per set).