ST. PAUL, Minn. - The #2 Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (10-1, 1-1 NSIC) returns to NSIC action with a split weekend as they travel to Minnesota State (5-5, 0-2 NSIC) on Thursday night before hosting Winona State (9-1, 2-0 NSIC) on Saturday afternoon.

MINNESOTA STATE SERIES HISTORY
The Golden Bears enter Tuesday night's meeting with the Mavericks with a 34-4 record in 38 previous matchups. Concordia has been especially successful in recent years in the series as they have registered 16 consecutive wins dating back to the 2014 season. MSU's last win in the series came back on Sept. 16, 2014 in a four-setter in Mankato. In 17 meetings all-time in Mankato, CSP has gone 14-3, winning 18 of the last 20 sets on the road.

LAST MEETING WITH THE MAVERICKS
Back on Oct. 25, 2022, CSP won their 15th straight match with a sweep of Minnesota State at Gangelhoff Center.

For the 12th time in the past 14 matches, Concordia's offense cleared .300 hitting as they finished at .337 with 46 kills and 12 errors on 101 attempts. CSP also held MSU to .105 hitting with 29 kills and 19 errors on 114 attempts. The Golden Bears added a 56-41 edge in digs, an 8.0-5.0 edge in blocks and a 7-5 edge in aces in the win.
 
Leading the way in the digs category was freshman Ellie Sieling, who finished with 17 digs and an ace on the night, marking her fifth straight match in double figures and third straight with at least 17. She was joined in double figures with Emma Schmidt, who finished with 13 digs, eight kills, three aces and two blocks, as well as Jasmine Mulvihill with a team-best 13 kills, 10 digs, three aces and three blocks. Mulvihill's double-double was her eighth of the season.
 
Sophia Andersen fell one kill shy of Mulvihill's mark with 12 while hitting an efficient .440 with three digs on the night. Kennedy Brady was even more efficient as she needed just 10 swings to collect eight kills as she hit .700 in the win while also picking up three blocks. Teagan Starkey added 41 assists, four digs and a solo block in the win.

WINONA STATE SERIES HISTORY
Concordia's meeting with Winona State on Saturday marks the 47th meeting between the two schools all-time. The Golden Bears hold a record of 35-11 against the Warriors. After WSU claimed wins in seven of the first nine contests against CSP, the Golden Bears have rattled off 33 wins in the past 37 meetings. Three of those four wins for the Warriors have come since 2019 as the two schools have split the last six meetings. Concordia holds a 20-2 record in 22 home matchups.

LAST MEETING WITH THE WARRIORS
In last year's meeting back on Oct. 22, 2022, the Golden Bears rolled to their 14th win in a row as they took down Winona State in three sets.

The Golden Bears limited the WSU attack as they held the Warriors to .073 hitting with 30 kills and 22 errors on 109 attempts. On the offensive end, Concordia collected 46 kills with 12 errors on their 117 swings for a mark of .291. CSP added a 9.0-3.0 edge in blocks as well as a 3-2 edge in aces in the victory.

Teagan Starkey spread the ball around as she tallied 44 assists to go along with four blocks with four different hitters registering at least nine kills in the win. Sophia Andersen led the way with 11 kills while Emma Schmidt and Jasmine Mulvihill finished with 10 apiece. Schmidt added 11 digs for her second straight double-double while Mulvihill chipped in eight digs, two aces and two blocks. Katie Mattson needed just 14 attempts to collect nine kills for a .571 hitting percentage while she added five blocks on the night.
 
Ellie Sieling led all players with 18 digs for the second match in a row as she fell one shy of her career-best.

LAST TIME OUT
Over the weekend, the Golden Bears were swept by then-#3 Wayne State on Friday before winning all three sets at Augustana on Saturday.

On Friday, CSP dropped a rematch of the previous weekend's Colorado Premier Challenge Gold Bracket championship match to the Wildcats. 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.

In Saturday's matchup, Concordia bounced back with a sweep of Augustana. Jasmine Mulvihill led the Golden Bears with a double-double after collecting 14 kills and 12 digs in the contest. Katie Mattson was just two kills from reaching double figures with her eight kills in the match. Teagan Starkey continues to impress this season with a match leading 38 assists. Libero Ellie Sieling led the Golden Bear defense with 13 digs and an assist.

IN THE POLLS
After splitting over the weekend, CSP dropped a spot to #2 in the AVCA Coaches Poll. 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.