ST. PAUL, Minn. – The #9 Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (17-4, 12-1 NSIC) hosted Augustana University (10-14, 6-8 NSIC) in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action on Thursday evening, outlasting the Vikings in five sets at the Gangelhoff Center.
The Golden Bears opened the match with a 25-20 win, but the Vikings took sets two and three 25-22 and 25-23 to take a 2-1 lead in the match. Concordia managed a 25-23 win in set four to send the match to a decisive fifth set where the Golden Bears finished strong with a 15-7 win to take the match 3-2. The win marked CSP's fourth straight over Augustana and gave the Golden Bears a 31-1 all-time advantage over the Vikings.
As a team, the Golden Bears hit .243 with 71 kills while the Vikings hit .223 with 48 kills. CSP also held a 10-6 edge in service aces and a 66-60 advantage in digs.
Emma Schmidt finished as Concordia's offensive leader, logging 18 kills on a .295 hitting percentage and adding 11 digs and a pair of block assists for the double-double.
Makenna Nold was just behind her with 17 kills on .314 hitting, also adding six digs.
Mehlayna Straub tallied 16 digs on .212 hitting for the Bears, while
Sophia Andersen finished with 13 kills on .206 hitting.
Libero
Cassie Sieling anchored the back line for CSP with a match-high 21 digs.
Setter
Teagan Starkey had another strong outing, tallying 65 set assists, seven digs, and two block assists for the Bears.
Claudia Stahlke led the Bears with five total blocks (one solo), also adding seven kills and a dig.
The Golden Bears worked out to a 12-7 lead early in the opening set, but the Vikings chipped away at the deficit and managed to tie the set at 16-16. After three more ties at 18, 19, and 20, CSP claimed the final five points to win the set 25-20.
Set two was a tight affair with 15 ties in the early goings, but the Vikings managed to win three straight points to break an 18-18 tie and create enough breathing room to even the match with a 25-22 win. The Golden Bears led 23-22 late in set three, but Augustana rallied with three consecutive points to claim a 25-23 win and go up 2-1 in the match.
Concordia led 23-19 late in the fourth set, but the Vikings won the next four points to tie the match at 23 each. The Golden Bears responded by winning the next two points to take the set 25-23 on a kill and a service ace each from Schmidt.
The Golden Bears led wire-to-wire in set five, working out to 5-0 lead on the way to a 15-7 win to take the match in five sets.
Concordia will host #11 Wayne State (Neb.) on Saturday at the Gangelhoff Center in a showdown between two of the top teams in the NSIC.
