SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - The #13 Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (11-4, 6-1 NSIC) completed its three-game road trip on Tuesday evening with a sweep of the University of Sioux Falls (9-6, 4-3 NSIC) in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play at the Stewart Center.
Concordia battled through a trio of competitive sets, winning by scores of 25-20, 25-21, and 25-20 to sweep the Cougars. The win marked CSP's third straight over Sioux Falls, with the Golden Bears now holding a 15-3 advantage in the series all-time.
The CSP offense had another strong outing, hitting .323 with 46 kills as a team while Sioux Falls hit .207 with 31 kills. The Golden Bears dominated the serving battle, holding a 12-1 advantage in service aces to tie their season-high in that category.
Sophia Andersen finished as the offensive leader for Concordia, logging 14 kills on 26 attempts for a .346 hitting percentage, also contributing a pair of solo blocks and a dig.
Ellie Sieling also reached double figures on offense, tallying 11 kills on a .318 hitting percentage and adding eight digs, a service ace, and a solo block.
Claudia Stahlke and
Mehlayna Straub added nine kills each for Concordia on .421 and .412 hitting, respectively, with Stahlke also adding two solo blocks.
Setter
Teagan Starkey paced the CSP offense once again, finishing with 36 set assists, eight digs, and a kill.
Emma Schmidt and
Makenna Nold were Concordia's most effective servers, notching four service aces each.
The CSP back row effort was headed by libero
Cassie Sieling with 13 digs, three set assists, and two service aces.
Abby Haus was the leader on offense for the Cougars with eight kills while Elise Gillen and Sadie Voss logged 10 digs each for Sioux Falls.
Tied at 7-7 early in the opening set, Concordia claimed eight of the following 11 points to take a 15-10 lead. Sioux Falls cut the deficit to three points on three separate occasions, but the Golden Bears held on for the 25-20 win.
CSP found itself in a 9-7 hole in the early goings of set two, but things turned in Concordia's favor from there as the Bears won seven of the next eight points to take a lead that would hold for the remainder of the set on the way to a 25-21 victory.
The Cougars looked poised to take a set as they held a 17-16 lead late in the third, but Concordia responded by taking nine of the final 12 points to complete the sweep with a 25-20 win.
The Golden Bears will look for their sixth consecutive victory when they host #21 Northern State (S.D.) at the Gangelhoff Center on Friday at 6 p.m.
