SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Outside hitter Emma Schmidt became the 21^st member of the 1,000 dig club in program history as the fourth-ranked Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (24-2, 15-2 NSIC) put up another impressive performance in a sweep (25-17, 25-20, 25-13) of Sioux Falls (12-14, 8-9 NSIC) on Friday night at Stewart Center.
 
Schmidt filled the box score as she matched Jasmine Mulvihill with a match-best 15 digs to go along with a match-high 12 kills. She added a pair of blocks and a pair of aces in the win. Her 15 digs brought her career total to 1,003 as she became the first to reach the mark since Tori Hanson in 2018.
 
Mulvihill was just shy of bringing that total to 22 players as her 15 digs put her at 999 in her career. She picked up a double-double of her own with 10 kills to go along with three blocks and an ace.
 
The Golden Bears moved to 15-6 in the all-time series with the Cougars as they completed the regular season sweep, winning both meetings between the two schools.
 
With the win, CSP remained in second in the NSIC standings as they maintained their one game advantage over SMSU in third. The Golden Bears close out the regular season tomorrow afternoon with a top-10 road matchup against the Mustangs. First serve is scheduled for 3 p.m.
 
It was a comprehensive effort as Concordia hit over .400 in each of the first two sets to finish the match at .337 while they held USF to .152 or lower in all three sets to limit them to .043 on the night. In total, CSP finished with a 43-24 edge in kills, a 46-27 edge in digs, a 10.0-6.0 edge in blocks and a 6-5 edge in aces in the win.
 
Teagan Starkey tallied 40 assists, four digs and three blocks while Jamie Guptill contributed a career-best six blocks in addition to four kills in the win.
 
Elise Gillen led the Cougars with 22 assists, seven digs and two aces in the loss.
 
With the score even at 2-2 in the opening set, CSP rattled off seven straight points to set the tone for the night. The Cougars eventually tied it back up at 10-10 and even took the lead at 14-13, but the Golden Bears regained control with five in a row to make it 18-14 in their favor. The lead would not shrink below three the rest of the way as Concordia won the set 25-17.
 
Concordia built an 8-4 lead in set two before Sioux Falls once again made a push midway through to jump in front. Once again, that USF lead would not last as CSP turned a 12-11 deficit into a 15-12 lead with four consecutive points before cruising to a 25-20 set win.
 
The Golden Bears wasted little time putting the third and final set out of reach as an early 5-0 run backed up by another 7-0 burst saw Concordia build a quick 17-4 advantage. CSP would not lead by less than 11 down the stretch as they closed out the sweep with a 25-13 win.