ST. PAUL, Minn. - Second-seeded #4 Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (26-2) will face sixth-seeded #16 Minnesota Duluth (18-9) in the NSIC Tournament semifinal on Saturday night at 7 p.m. on the campus of Wayne State.

IN-VENUE TICKETS: Fans are encouraged to purchase tickets in advance of the tournament. Ticket options include a mobile version or a print at home option. www.northernsun.org/Tickets.

NSIC NETWORK ACCESS: The NSIC semifinals and championship will be streamed on the NSIC Network for a charge of $10 per match or $15 for a tournament pass. Fans are encouraged to purchase access prior to the match as an account will need to be set up in order to access the matches. FAQ and troubleshooting information is available on the NSIC Network Help page. 

MINNESOTA DULUTH SERIES HISTORY
CSP enters Saturday's meeting with a record of 33-30 in the all-time series with UMD, including a record of 5-0 in neutral site contests. Concordia has had much more success recently in the series as they have claimed 28 wins in the last 37 meetings, including the last seven in a row. Over the past 17 meetings, just five matches have gone three sets with seven going all five sets. The two schools are meeting in the NSIC Tournament semifinals for the second year in a row as Concordia swept the Bulldogs in last year's matchup in St. Paul.

LAST MEETING VS UMD
Just under a month ago on Oct. 21, CSP picked up a road sweep of Minnesota Duluth at Romano Gym.

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 10th 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.

NSIC TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Entering this year, Concordia has gone 29-8 overall in the conference tournament in 14 previous trips. In those previous trips, CSP has reached the title match 10 times and has won six titles (2004, 2005, 2006, 2015, 2016 and 2019). The Golden Bears have gone 10-3 in semfinal matches as they have advanced to at least the semifinals in all but two seasons. Last season, Concordia defeated NSU and UMD before falling in five sets to SCSU in the championship match.

LAST TIME OUT
In the NSIC Tournament quarterfinal, fourth-ranked and second-seeded Concordia-St. Paul swept (25-14, 25-20, 25-15) seventh-seeded Winona State 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.

IN THE POLLS
After extending their winning streak to seven over the weekend, CSP held their place at #4 in the AVCA Coaches Poll for the fourth week in a row after spending five weeks at #2. Concordia has been a mainstay near the top of the poll for nearly two decades as they have ranked outside the top-10 for just three weeks since 2003, never ranking below #15. The Golden Bears have ranked #1 at least once in 16 of the past 18 seasons, including week two of this year. In total, CSP has spent an incredible 84 weeks at the top team in the country since debuting there in the 2004 preseason poll.

ALL-NSIC PICKS
Last Thursday, the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference released the 2023 Volleyball All-Conference Teams and Concordia-St. Paul had Sophia Andersen, Teagan Starkey, Jasmine Mulvihill, Katie Mattson and Emma Schmidt named to the First Team while Jamie Guptill was named to the Second Team.

For the second year in a row, the Golden Bears matched their program record set back in 2008 with six All-NSIC picks. CSP also extended their streak to 21 consecutive seasons with at least four all-conference picks as they have reached that mark every season since 2001.

STAT LEADERS
So far this season, the Golden Bears rank near the top of the NSIC in several statistical categories.

Teagan Starkey's 13.30 assists per set rank first in the country as she has guided the offense to a nation-leading 15.49 kills per set and a second-best .321 hitting percentage through 28 matches. The Golden Bears also have two of the top eight in kills per set in the NSIC as Jasmine Mulvihill ranks sixth (3.55) and Sophia Andersen ranks eighth (3.51). Mulvihill and Andersen also rank fifth (4.13) and 10th (3.85), respectively, in points per set while Mulvihill and Andersen also rank eighth (.336) and 11th (.322), respectively, in hitting percentage.

Jamie Guptill has paced the squad with a .394 hitting percentage, good for third in the league and 15th in the nation, while Katie Mattson also ranks 10th (.325). Payton Stier ranks 12th with 0.36 aces per set and Emma Schmidt ranks 13th with 3.53 digs per set.

ALL-TIME RANKS
After surpassing 1,000 career kills in the opening weekend of the 2022 season, Jasmine Mulvihill has continued to climb the ranks at CSP. Her 1,795 career kills rank second in program history as she is 103 behind Emily Palkert in first. Mulvihill's 3.85 career kills per set are 0.10 ahead of Jill Kalvik in second place while her 4.54 points per set are 0.11 ahead of Kalvik. The senior also became the 22nd member of the 1,000 dig club and seventh member of the 1,000/1,000 club on Saturday at SMSU as she is up to 1,012 career digs.

Junior Emma Schmidt also reached the 1,000 dig club last weekend as well as she sits at 1,014. She also sits 74 kills away from the 1,000 kill club with 926 while junior Sophia Andersen has compiled 923 kills.