ST. CLOUD, Minn. - The ninth-ranked Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team played its second Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference match of the season on Tuesday evening, falling to #12 St. Cloud State in straight sets at Halenbeck Hall.

After a back-and-forth opening set that saw the Huskies outlast the Golden Bears 30-28, St. Cloud State carried the momentum throughout the remainder of the match with a 25-19 win in set two and a 25-22 victory in set three to cap off the sweep.

Set one proved to be a wild affair containing 14 ties and seven lead changes. Tied at 28 each late in the set, back-to-back kills from St. Cloud State's Kenzie Foley gave the Huskies a 30-28 win. The Golden Bears narrowly outhit the Huskies .265 to .264 in the set.

St. Cloud State jumped out to an early 7-1 lead in the second set and never looked back, cruising to a 25-19 win to go up 2-0 in the match.

Trailing 21-15 late in set three, Concordia managed a run of five consecutive points that included two service aces by Makenna Nold and a pair of kills from Ellie Sieling to pull within a single point at 21-20. Despite the Golden Bear threat, the Huskies never relinquished the lead, winning four of the next six points to win the set 25-22.

Reigning NSIC Defensive Player of the Week Claudia Stahlke put together another strong outing, tallying five total blocks (one solo) and 10 kills while hitting at a .409 clip.

Setter Teagan Starkey tallied 39 set assists in the match (13.0 per set) and added seven digs.

Sophia Andersen led the offense with 11 kills, also chipping in two service aces and a block assist. Mehlayna Straub also reached double figures with 10 kills for the Golden Bears.

The CSP defense was anchored by Ellie Sieling with 16 digs (5.3 per set) and six kills in the match. Libero Cassie Sieling added 12 digs.

The loss was just Concordia's fourth ever to St. Cloud State in the 38-match series, with the Golden Bears now holding a 34-4 advantage in the series all-time.

Concordia will play in front of home crowds this weekend for the first time in the 2024 campaign, hosting Winona State on Friday night and Minnesota Crookston on Saturday evening as a part of CSP's homecoming weekend.