MARSHALL, Minn. – In a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference battle between a pair of top 25 squads, the #12 Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (14-4, 9-1 NSIC) completed a reverse sweep to take down #7 Southwest Minnesota State (17-3, 8-3 NSIC) in five sets.

The Golden Bears dropped a pair of competitive sets with 25-22 and 26-24 losses to open the match, but bounced back with 25-19, 25-13, 15-12 wins to complete the reverse sweep of the Mustangs. The win marked Concordia's fourth straight over SMSU in a streak that dates back to 2021 and pushed CSP's all-time advantage over the Mustangs to 43-13.

For the match, CSP hit .245 as a team with 70 kills while SMSU hit .191 with 55 kills. The Golden Bears also held advantages in assists (68-52), service aces (10-6), digs (85-82), and blocks (13-11).

Emma Schmidt led the way for CSP, hitting .327 with a 23-kill, 16-dig double-double along with three service aces and a block assist. Her 23 kills were a new career high. Sophia Andersen was second on the team with 17 kills on .196 hitting.

Mehlyana Straub was also a key factor on both offense and defense, logging 13 kills on .310 hitting and ranking second on the team with a career high six total blocks. Claudia Stahlke was similarly effective, tallying 10 kills on a .364 hitting percentage while leading the team with seven total blocks.

Setter Teagan Starkey paced the Golden Bear offense with 63 set assists, also adding 10 digs for her seventh double-double of the season.

Libero Cassie Sieling anchored the Concordia defense, matching her career high with 24 digs. Natalee Rolbiecki and Ellie Sieling added 15 and 14 digs for CSP, respectively, with Rolbiecki setting a new career high in the category.

Concordia held a narrow advantage through most of the opening set, working out to a 21-19 lead late. The Mustangs took control from that point, winning six of the following seven points to take the set 25-22.

The Golden Bears led by as many as six points at 17-11 midway through the second set and pushed their advantage to set point at 24-22, but the Mustangs claimed the next four straight points to win the set 26-22.

Tied at 17-17 late in set three, the Golden Bears found their stride late as they secured eight of the final 10 points to win the set 25-19.

CSP dominated the fourth set, cruising to a 25-13 win to send the match to a decisive fifth set. The Golden Bears hit .306 as a team with 14 kills in the frame while SMSU hit .000 with 10 kills.

Concordia jumped out to an 11-5 lead early in set five, but the Mustangs chipped away and cut the deficit to a single point at 12-11. The Bears regained control at that point, winning three of the next four points to take the set 15-12 and win the match 3-2.

The Golden Bears will return home to host Minnesota State on Thursday at 6 p.m. at the Gangelhoff Center.