WAYNE, Neb. - In a rematch of last weekend's Colorado Premier Challenge Gold Bracket championship match, top-ranked and undefeated Concordia-St. Paul fell on the road at #3 Wayne State (8-1, 1-0 NSIC) at Rice Auditorium on Friday night in straight sets (19-25, 26-28, 21-25).

The Golden Bears, now 9-1 overall and 0-1 NSIC, had prevailed last weekend in Division II volleyball's most prestigious preseason tournament on a neutral floor in Denver over the Wildcats, only to have Wayne State return the favor in hostile territory to open the Northern Sun regular season slate on the road. The Golden Bears are now 36-18 all-time against the Wildcats including a 15-5 mark at Rice Auditorium and 27-12 in Northern Sun matches.

The 9-0 start to the 2023 season was Concordia's best start since the 2016 team opened the year 13-0, dropping just two sets during the hot start en route to eventually winning the program's eighth NCAA Division II championship during a 35-2 overall season.

Concordia, having nearly aced the toughest part of their schedule by going through six-straight current or former AVCA Top-25 programs with a 5-1 record, remains on the road on Saturday, heading to Sioux Falls, South Dakota to face Augustana University for a 2 p.m. match at Elmen Center.

Ellie Sieling led CSP's back row with 20 digs on the night, joined by Emma Schmidt with 13 while Jasmine Mulvihill registered a double-double with 12 kills and 12 digs. Sophia Andersen had a team-high 13 kills and .219 hitting percentage, and Katie Mattson paced the middle with 11 kills offensively.

Teagan Starkey churned out 44 more assists, setting five different players to at least six kills with three in double-figures.

Wayne State was led by Taya Beller with 13 kills on 27 error-free swings for a .481 hitting night, adding six total blocks for a match-high 17.5 points.

The Golden Bears out-killed the Wildcats by 13, recording 50 kills in three sets to WSC's 37, but Concordia also registered 19 more attack errors, were out-blocked 11-2 and had five more service errors in a match when aces were even at four apiece.

In the opening set, Wayne State the tone for how the match would be played by not recording a single attack error against the Golden Bears, terminating 10 kills on just 30 swings while Concordia used 50 attack attempts to put down 16 kills, but were forced into 11 hitting errors. The Golden Bears didn't lead in the opening set as WSC scored the first four points of the match, and although CSP clawed back to tie it at 13-13, a 3-0 spurt by Wayne State gave them the lead for good in the set.

In the second set, Wayne State started hot once again, getting out to an early 4-1 lead as head coach Brady Starkey used an early timeout, with Concordia turning the tide in the second set to take their first lead of the night at 10-9 on an Andersen kill. The Wildcats rallied from there, though, scoring the next five points and led 18-13 later in the second set.

Trailing 20-17, Concordia made a move and looked to gain momentum, using a 7-2 scoring spurt to put WSC at set point and looking to even the match. The Wildcats scored the next two points, though, and after CSP forced another set point at 25-24, the Wildcats took the upper hand and eventually closed out a tight 28-26 second set to take a 2-0 lead.

The second set featured nine ties and five lead changes as Concordia put down 20 kills on the attack to WSC's 13. All five of Concordia's hitters compiled four kills in the second set behind Starkey's 17 set assists, and Ellie Sieling had 13 digs to keep WSC's attacks from hitting the floor.

In the third, Concordia finally had the edge early with three of the first four points in a set that featured seven ties. But there was only one lead change, as WSC flipped CSP's 5-4 edge into a 6-5 lead with back-to-back points. After the match's final tie at 11-all, the Wildcats used a pair of kills and blocks to use a 4-0 run and never looked back. Trailing 23-18 late in the deciding set, Concordia had one more run, scoring three straight points on a Mulvihill-Mattson block, an ace by Ellie Sieling and a kill from Schmidt, but Wayne State countered with the next two points.