ST. CLOUD, Minn. – The second-seeded and eighth-ranked Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (23-6) saw its NSIC Tournament run come to an end on Sunday afternoon, falling to top-seeded and second-ranked St. Cloud State (27-2) in four sets in the championship match on the Huskies' home court. 

The Huskies opened the match with a pair of commanding wins, taking the opening set 25-18 and winning set two 25-17. It took extra points to decide a winner in set three, but the Golden Bears managed to outlast the Huskies for a 31-29 victory. The Huskies went on to claim a dominant 25-8 win in set four to take the match 3-1.

For the match, Concordia hit .140 with 46 kills while SCSU hit .294 with 54 kills. The Golden Bears held a 12-9 edge in blocks, but the Huskies held the advantage in most other statistical categories.

Sophia Andersen led the Golden Bear offense with 12 kills and contributed on defense with four block assists. Makenna Nold matched her on offense with 12 kills and added two digs.

Named to the six-member All-NSIC Tournament Team, senior Emma Schmidt finished with her sixth consecutive double-double with 11 kills, 10 digs, and three total blocks.

Also named to the all-tournament team, setter Teagan Starkey also notched a double-double with 42 set assists and 10 digs.

Libero Cassie Sieling finished with 10 digs for CSP while Ellie Sieling added nine digs and four service aces.

For St. Cloud State, Kenzie Foley led the way with a 19-kill, 17-dig double-double.

With CSP trailing by a single point at 10-9 early in the opening set, the Huskies took six of the following seven points to open up a 16-10 lead. St. Cloud State remained comfortably in the lead for the rest of the set, eventually winning 25-18.

The Huskies carried their momentum into the early points of set two, opening a 7-1 lead over CSP. The Golden Bears managed to cut the deficit to four on three separate occasions, but that proved to be as close as they would come as SCSU claimed a 25-17 win.

Set three was a back-and-forth affair containing 15 ties and seven lead changes and heading deep into extra points before a winner was decided. The Golden Bears held set point three times while the Huskies held match point on four occasions, but the Golden Bears claimed the final three points of the set to secure a 31-29 win that sent the match to a fourth frame.

The Huskies dominated the fourth set, opening a 10-0 lead and cruising to a 25-8 win to take the match in four sets.

The Golden Bears will now await the NCAA Volleyball selection show, airing on Monday, Nov. 25 at 6:30 p.m. (CT) on NCAA.com,  in hopes of securing an at-large bid to the NCAA Central Region Tournament. The Golden Bears were ranked #3 in the third and final NCAA Region Rankings last week, with the winners of the NSIC (St. Cloud State), MIAA (Central Oklahoma), and GAC (Ouachita Baptist) tournaments receiving automatic bids and five others earning at-large selections to the tournament.