ST. PAUL Minn. – The #11 Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (15-4, 10-1 NSIC) hosted Minnesota State (13-6, 5-6 NSIC) in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action on Thursday evening, topping the Mavericks in four sets at the Gangelhoff Center to extend CSP's winning streak to nine matches.
The Golden Bears won the opening set 25-22, but Minnesota State evened the match with a 25-17 win in set two. Concordia responded by winning set three 25-17 and taking set four 25-19 to win the match 3-1. The win moved Concordia's all-time advantage over MSU to 36-3 and preserved the Bears' perfect 18-0 record at the Gangelhoff Center vs. the Mavericks.
As a team, the Golden Bears hit .304 in the match with 67 kills while Minnesota State hit .286 with 48 kills. Concordia also held a 61-59 edge in digs, a 62-44 advantage in set assists, and an 8-5 edge in aces.
Sophia Andersen was outstanding for the Golden Bear offense, leading all players with a season-high 18 kills against just three errors for a .395 hitting percentage.
Emma Schmidt was just behind her with 17 kills on a .300 hitting percentage, also adding 11 digs for the double-double.
Makenna Nold and
Mehlayna Straub also hit double figures on offense, logging 14 and 11 kills, respectively. Nold was also active on defense, adding five block assists.
Teagan Starkey notched her eighth double-double of the season, tallying 55 set assists and 11 digs while adding a pair of block assists.
Libero
Cassie Sieling led the way on defense for Concordia with 19 digs.
Claudia Stahlke led all players in the match with six block assists, also contributing six kills and a dig.
Trailing 9-3 early in the opening set, the Golden Bears began to chip away, eventually taking their first lead at 19-18. The Mavericks won the following point to tie the set at 19, but Concordia responded with six of the final nine points to win the set 25-22.
The Mavericks jumped out to an early 10-3 lead in set two and never looked back, cruising to a comfortable 25-17 win to even the match.
CSP used a six-point run in the middle of set three to create separation with a 15-7 lead and maintained control for the duration of the frame en route to a 25-17 win of their own.
Tied 7-7 in set four, the Golden Bears claimed six of the next eight points to take a 13-9 lead that would hold for the rest of the frame on the way to a 25-19 win. The Golden Bears hit .442 as a team with 22 kills in the set while MSU hit .243 with 12 kills.
The Golden Bears will head south to Winona, Minn. this weekend to take on Winona Sate on Saturday at 4 p.m.
