DULUTH, Minn. – The second-ranked Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (19-2, 10-2 NSIC) bounced back with a road sweep (26-24, 25-20, 25-17) at 10^th-ranked Minnesota Duluth (14-7, 7-6 NSIC) on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Golden Bears made it seven consecutive wins in the series and 28 wins in the past 37 against the Bulldogs as they improved to 33-30 all-time against UMD. The win was also CSP's fifth against a top-10 opponent this season as they improved to 5-1 in those matchups.
 
CSP edged UMD in virtually every statistical category as they managed a .276-.145 advantage in hitting percentage, a 44-39 advantage in kills, a 48-45 advantage in digs, a 6-2 advantage in aces and an 8.0-3.0 advantage in blocks in the win.
 
Emma Schmidt led the Golden Bears in both kills and digs as she collected 15 kills and 13 digs for her 10^th double-double of the season. She was joined in double figures in digs by Sophia Andersen and Ellie Sieling, both with 11. Andersen added four kills while Sieling had three assists.
 
Schmidt was also joined by Jamie Guptill in double digits in kills as Guptill hit an efficient .500 with 10 kills while also leading the team with four blocks. Teagan Starkey finished with 37 assists and seven digs in the victory.
 
Kaylyn Madison led all players with 17 digs for the Bulldogs while Madison Gordon had 29 assists and nine digs in the loss.
 
Very little separated the two teams in the opening set as it featured a staggering 16 ties and four lead changes throughout. With the Bulldogs leading 20-19 in the set, CSP scored five of the next seven to force set point at 24-22. UMD extended it with back-to-back points but kills from Schmidt and Guptill sealed a 26-24 victory.
 
The lead once again went back and forth in the second with the lead changing hands 10 times to go along with 12 ties. Minnesota Duluth led as late as 14-12 before Concordia took the lead for good with a timely 12-2 burst. UMD erased four straight set points to add some drama before CSP closed it out 25-20 to take a 2-0 lead.
 
Concordia opened the third set with four of the first five points before pushing their lead to five at 8-3. UMD managed to shrink the gap to one at 11-10, but that would be all the closer they would get as the Golden Bears scored the next five and eight of nine to give themselves a cushion. They eventually went on to complete the sweep with a 25-17 set win.
 
Concordia returns home next weekend with Bemidji State and Minnesota Crookston coming to town.