ST. PAUL, Minn. – The fourth-ranked and second-seeded Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (26-2) swept (25-14, 25-20, 25-15) seventh-seeded Winona State (18-10) in the NSIC Tournament quarterfinal on Tuesday night at Gangelhoff Center.
 
The Golden Bears will face sixth-seeded and 16^th-ranked Minnesota Duluth in the semifinal on the campus of Wayne State on Saturday night.
 
CSP extended their winning streak to eight matches in a row as they have won 16 consecutive sets and 24 of their last 25. The victory also kept the Golden Bears unbeaten at home as they moved to 11-0 at Gangelhoff Center.
 
Concordia continued their strong play on both sides of the net as they hit .390 or better for the sixth time in seven matches while holding their opponents to below .150 or below for the for the seventh time in eight. They added a massive 11.0-2.0 edge in blocks as well as a 49-35 edge in kills and a 43-39 edge in digs in the victory. It marked the sixth time the Golden Bears cleared double figures in blocks on the year and second time in as many matches against the Warriors.
 
Senior Katie Mattson played a big role in both the offensive and blocking output as she hit .600 with 11 kills on 16 swings to go along with seven blocks and a pair of digs. Emma Schmidt and Jasmine Mulvihill joined her in double figures in kills as Schmidt collected 12 kills, eight digs and two blocks while Mulvihill added 11 kills, four digs and a pair of blocks.
 
Teagan Starkey just missed a double-double with 40 assists, nine digs and two blocks while Ellie Sieling was the lone Golden Bear in double digits in digs with 10 digs. Sophia Andersen and Jamie Guptill each chipped in seven kills while Andersen added four blocks and Guptill added three.
 
Sidney Paulson finished with 10 digs and seven kills in the loss for the Warriors.
 
Concordia set the tone from the start as they scored the first three points and eight of the first 10 before growing the lead from there. The lead reached double figures at 18-8 before growing to as many as 13 before the Golden Bears took the set 25-14.
 
The Warriors battled back in the second set as they turned an 8-7 CSP lead into a 14-11 lead of their own with a 7-3 burst, but the Golden Bears regained control down the stretch. With the margin still at three two points later, Concordia rattled off five in a row to build a 17-15 edge and take the lead for good. WSU remained within two as late as 21-19 before CSP extended their lead to 2-0 with a 25-20 set win.
 
In the third set, CSP picked up where they left off as they scored the first four in a row and six of the first seven as they led from wire to wire. Winona State closed the gap to two at 10-8, but that would be all the closer they would get as the Golden Bears outscored the visitors 15-7 the rest of the way to complete the sweep with a 25-14 win.