ST. CLOUD, Minn. – The fourth-seeded and ninth-ranked Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (24-6) improved to 19-0 all time in the NCAA Central Region Tournament quarterfinal round with a four-set win over fifth-seeded Missouri Western (23-8) on Thursday evening at Halenbeck Hall on the campus of St. Cloud State.

With the win, Concordia will advance to the semifinal round of the NCAA Region Tournament for the 21st consecutive season where it will face top-seeded St. Cloud State on Friday at 7 p.m. at Halenbeck Hall.

The match marked just the third all-time meeting between the Golden Bears and Griffons, with Concordia now holding a perfect 3-0 record in the series.

The Golden Bears found themselves in a 10-4 hole early in the opening set and never fully recovered, eventually falling 25-19. CSP responded in a big way in the following two sets, evening the match with a 25-18 win in set two and taking a 2-1 lead with a 25-21 win in set three. The story was similar in set four, with Concordia using a late burst to secure a 25-17 win to take the match in four sets.

Senior Emma Schmidt was sensational in the win for Concordia, posting her seventh consecutive double-double with a career-high 25 kills on a .278 hitting percentage to go along with 12 digs and a service ace.

Makenna Nold and Mehlayna Straub each joined Schmidt in double figures on offense with 11 and 10 kills, respectively. Straub also contributed three service aces, three blocks, and three digs while Nold added four blocks, a service ace, and a dig.

Libero Cassie Sieling led the defensive effort for CSP with 16 digs, while her sister Ellie Sieling finished with 14 kills, six digs, two set assists, and two blocks. Natalee Rolbiecki also finished in double figures with 12 digs.

Middle blocker Claudia Stahlke put together a strong outing, finishing with 10 total blocks, the second most of her career, and four kills.

Senior setter Teagan Starkey was also outstanding, logging 55 assists, eight digs, four blocks, and three kills for the Golden Bears. Sitting at 4,979 career assists entering the match, her 55 assists put her over to 5,000 assists mark, becoming just the fourth Golden Bear to do so (Maggie McNamara, 7351, Cailin Terhaar, 6,724, and Amanda Konetchy, 6,189).

For the match, Concordia outhit MWSU .207 to .146 with a 60-44 advantage in kills. CSP also held a massive 13-4 advantage in blocks and a 7-4 edge in service aces.

The Griffons carried all the momentum early in the opening set, working out to an early 10-4 lead. Concordia managed to pull within a single point at 15-14, but that proved to be as close as things would get as Missouri Western went on to regain control on the way to a 25-19 win.

Tied at 9-9 early in the second set, the Golden Bears claimed seven of the following nine points to open a 16-11 advantage. The Griffons cut the deficit to two points at 17-15, but that proved to be all they could do as Concordia held on for a 25-18 win to even the match.

CSP trailed 16-14 midway through the third set, but a six-point run for Concordia put the Golden Bears on top for good at 20-16 on the way to a 25-21 win.

Set four played out in a similar fashion to its predecessor, with the Griffons holding a 12-10 lead early in the set before Concordia claimed nine of the following 11 points to take a 19-14 lead. The Golden Bears continued to control the pace of play for the remainder of the set, cruising to a 25-17 win to take the match in four sets.