ST. PAUL, Minn. – The #8 Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (19-4, 14-1 NSIC) hosted the University of Minnesota Duluth (14-10, 7-9) in its penultimate home match of the regular season on Friday evening, taking down the Bulldogs in four sets at the Gangelhoff Center on Senior Night.

The Golden Bears dominated the opening set to win 25-17, but the Bulldogs bounced back with a 25-17 win of their own in the second set to even the match. Concordia regained control from there with a 25-15 win in set three and a 25-20 win in set four to take the match 3-1. The win was CSP's 10^th straight over UMD and gave the Golden Bears a 36-25 advantage in the all-time series.

Both teams struggled offensively throughout the match, with UMD outhitting CSP .212 to .190. The Golden Bears held a narrow 45-44 edge in kills and had 13 service aces to Minnesota Duluth's four. Concordia's 13 service aces were its fifth-most in a four-set match in school history, and tied for its 12th-most in any match. 

Emma Schmidt finished as the offensive leader for Concordia, logging 16 kills on a .308 hitting clip with five digs and a block assist. Mehlayna Straub also finished in double figures on offense with 11 kills on .364 hitting to go along with six total blocks (one solo) and two digs.

Claudia Stahlke also finished with six total blocks, including four solo blocks. The senior also added five kills and two digs.

Libero Cassie Sieling led the back line with 16 digs while Ellie Sieling finished with 10 digs and seven service aces, tied for the most in a four-set match in school history and the fourth-most in any match in program history.

Setter Teagan Starkey finished with 37 set assists and nine digs for Concordia.

The Golden Bears were dominant out of the gates in the opening set, using an eight-point run near the midway point to carve out a 19-9 lead on the way to a 25-17 win.

Tied at 17-17 late in set two, the Bulldogs put together an impressive eight-point streak of their own to close the set with a 25-17 win and even the match 1-1.

Minnesota Duluth held an 11-10 lead in set three, but Concordia claimed 11 of the following 12 points and never looked back en route to a 25-15 set win that put them up 2-1 in the match.

After the Bears worked out to a 21-12 lead in the fourth set, the Bulldogs began to chip away and eventually cut the deficit to four at 24-20. That proved to be all they could do, however, as Concordia hung on for the 25-20 win to take the match in four sets.

CSP will play its final home match of the regular season on Saturday, hosting #2 St. Cloud State at 5 p.m. with a spot atop the NSIC standings on the line.