WAYNE, Neb. – The fourth-ranked and second-seeded Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (27-2) advanced to the NSIC Tournament championship match with a thrilling five-set win (25-16, 22-25 19-25, 25-20, 15-7) over 16^th-ranked and sixth-seeded Minnesota Duluth (18-10) in the NSIC Tournament semifinals on the campus of Wayne State on Saturday night.
 
Trailing two sets to one, the Golden Bears stormed back to win the final two sets as they moved to 30-8 all-time in the tournament as they reached the title match for the 11^th time in 15 tries. CSP will look to claim their seventh NSIC Tournament crown tomorrow afternoon at 3 p.m. against eighth-ranked and fourth-seeded St. Cloud State. The two schools have met twice this season with the Golden Bears picking up a sweep at home in non-conference play on Sept. 12 and SCSU grabbing a four-set win on their home court in NSIC action on Oct. 20.
 
The victory was Concordia's ninth in a row overall this season and eighth in a row against the Bulldogs as they improved to 34-30 in the series with UMD.
 
On a night in which UMD collected more kills (65-53), aces (9-5) and digs (62-57) than CSP, it was efficiency and blocking that made the difference on the night. The Golden Bears nearly doubled up the Bulldogs in hitting percentage as they finished at .341 with just nine hitting errors while holding UMD to .184 with 35 hitting errors. Concordia's block played a big role in that as they finished with 14.0 compared to 4.0 for Minnesota Duluth.
 
The trio of Jasmine Mulvihill, Jamie Guptill and Katie Mattson all contributed in a big way to the offensive efficiency and blocking dominance as each finished with at least nine kills and six blocks in the win. Mulvihill led the team with 17 kills as she flirted with a triple-double with 10 digs and seven blocks while hitting .385. Guptill was even more efficient as she hit .524 with 12 kills a career-best seven blocks while Mattson needed just 13 swings to collect nine kills and a .615 hitting percentage to go along with six blocks of her own.
 
Ellie Sieling paced all players with 15 digs while Teagan Starkey just missed a double-double with 44 assists, nine digs and two aces in the win. Sophia Andersen added nine kills, seven digs and three blocks while Emma Schmidt tallied nine digs and six kills in the win.
 
Cianna Selbitschka carried the load for the Bulldogs with a match-best 24 kills on 61 swings to go along with a team-high 13 digs in the loss.
 
It was quite the start for the Golden Bears as they scored the first six points of the match, but the Bulldogs quickly battled back with nine of the next 12 to even up the score at 9-9. That proved to be short-lived, however, as CSP answered with seven straight points and 10 of 11 to balloon their lead to nine at 19-10. The lead grew to as many as 10 at 23-13 and again at 24-14 before Concordia closed out the opening set with a margin of 25-16.
 
Minnesota Duluth got off to a fast start in the second set with four of the first five points, but after the two teams traded the next four points, CSP regained control with a 6-0 run to make it 9-6 in their favor. That proved to be the first tie and lead change in a set that featured nine ties and eight lead changes throughout. Concordia built their largest lead of the set at 18-14 following a 6-1 run, but that lead would not last as the Bulldogs evened it up at 20-20. The Golden Bears briefly regained the lead at 21-20, but they managed just one more point the rest of the way as Minnesota Duluth evened the match at 1-1 with a 25-22 set win.
 
After six ties in the first 14 points of the third set, UMD was back on the attack as they tallied four straight kills to build an 11-7 lead. Their advantage reached five at 15-10 before CSP trimmed it to two at 17-15 following three points in a row, but that would be all the closer they would get as UMD responded with three consecutive points of their own. Concordia did manage to close the gap back to three 22-19 before the Bulldogs closed out the set with another three in their favor to win it 25-19, taking a 2-1 lead in the match.
 
Concordia turned the tide early in the fourth as they opened on a 4-1 run before UMD closed the gap to one at 6-5 and again at 7-6. CSP regained the momentum with three points in a row before extending it to five at 15-10, but Minnesota Duluth once again battled back with a 3-0 run to make it 16-14. The Golden Bears delivered the decisive blow from there as they hammered out six consecutive points to balloon the lead all the way out to eight at 22-14. One last 4-0 run for the Bulldogs at set point made things interesting, but CSP slammed the door with a point to win the set 25-20, forcing a deciding fifth set.
 
Concordia wasted no time setting the tone in the final set as they scored the first four points to put the Bulldogs in an early hole. UMD responded with three of the next four, but CSP was right back at it with three in a row and seven of nine to pull within striking distance at 12-5. The Golden Bears did not allow for any drama from there as they finished strong to win the set 15-7 and the match 3-2.