CROOKSTON, Minn. – The #8 Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (20-5, 15-2 NSIC) began its final weekend of conference play with a sweep of Minnesota Crookston (7-18, 4-13 NSIC) on Friday evening.

The Golden Bears were in control throughout the entirety of the match, winning set one 25-16, taking set two 25-18, and completing the sweep with a 25-14 win in set three. The win moved CSP's all-time advantage over UMC to 39-0, including a 17-0 mark in road matchups in Crookston, Minn.

As a unit, Concordia hit .318 with 48 kills while Minnesota Crookston hit just .078 with 23 kills. CSP also held a 7-2 advantage in service aces, a 5-1 edge in blocks, and a 63-44 advantage in digs.

Emma Schmidt led the way with a 16-dig, 12-kill double-double for the Golden Bears while hitting at an incredible .455 clip.

Mehlayna Straub was also extremely efficient, logging 10 kills against just two errors on 17 attempts for a .471 hitting percentage. Sophia Andersen joined her in double figures with 10 kills and four digs.

Teagan Starkey paced the Golden Bear offense with 40 assists, also adding a kill and four digs. Libero Cassie Sieling finished the match with 11 digs while Ellie Sieling contributed nine digs and two service aces. Makenna Nold added seven kills and three digs.

The Golden Bears worked out to an early 7-2 lead in the opening set and never looked back, going on to claim a 25-16 win. Concordia hit .421 with 18 kills in the frame while holding the Golden Eagles to a .122 hitting percentage with 10 kills.

Set two had a similar feel with Concordia using a five-point run to take an 8-2 lead. The Bears remained in the driver's seat for the remainder of the set, eventually claiming a 25-18 win.

CSP dominated the third set, quickly staking a 12-4 lead en route to a 25-14 victory to complete the sweep. The Bears tallied 13 kills on .235 hitting in the frame while UMC had just four kills on -0.025 hitting.

Concordia will finish the regular season on Saturday at Bemidji State with first serve scheduled for 4 p.m.