ST. PAUL, Minn. – The #8 Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (19-5, 14-2 NSIC) had its 13-match winning streak snapped on Saturday evening, falling to #2 St. Cloud State University (23-2, 17-0 NSIC) in four sets at the Gangelhoff Center.
St. Cloud State came out on top in the opening set as it outlasted Concordia 29-27 to take a 1-0 lead in the match. The Huskies carried that momentum into the second set with a 25-22 win to push the Golden Bears to the brink. Concordia responded with a 25-19 victory in the third set, but the Huskies slammed the door with a 25-22 win in the fourth frame to take the match 3-1.
As a unit, Concordia hit .210 with 52 kills while St. Cloud State hit .222 with 59 kills. CSP held a massive advantage in total blocks with 16 to SCSU's four.
Emma Schmidt tallied a 13-kill, 14-dig double-double and added four block assists to lead the Bears.
Sophia Andersen also finished with 13 kills and three block assists on a .234 hitting percentage.
Mehlayna Straub collected 10 kills on .300 hitting and tied for the team lead with eight block assists.
Claudia Stahlke and
Makenna Nold also finished with eight block assists each, adding six and eight kills, respectively.
Setter
Teagan Starkey logged a 46-assist, 12-dig double-double for CSP, her 10
th of the season.
Cassie Sieling anchored the defense for Concordia with 17 digs while
Natalee Rolbiecki also finished in double figures with 12 digs.
The Golden Bears reached set point on three occasions at 24-23, 25-24, and 26-25 at the end of a back-and-forth opening set, but the Huskies answered each time and held on, eventually claiming a 29-27 win.
Concordia looked poised to take set two with a 21-15 lead late in the frame, but St. Cloud State finished strong once again with 10 of the final 11 points to claim a 25-22 win and take a decisive 2-0 lead in the match.
CSP trailed 19-18 in the third set, but the Golden Bears found a late spark as they won six of the next seven points to take the set 25-19 and make it 2-1 in the match.
Tied at 18-18 in the fourth set, a three-point run by the Huskies gave them enough breathing room to take the lead for good on the way to a 25-22 win to take the match 3-1.
Concordia will wrap up the regular season next week on the road with matches at Minnesota Crookston on Friday and Bemidji State on Saturday.
