MARSHALL, Minn. – The No. 8 Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (11-4, 7-1 NSIC) suffered its first setback in conference play this season on Friday evening, falling to No. 17 Southwest Minnesota State (11-4, 4-4 NSIC) in five sets on the road.

The loss snapped the Golden Bears' five-match winning streak over SMSU and brought the all-time series between the two teams to 44-28-1 in favor of CSP.

The Golden Bears dominated the early portion of the opening set, carving out a 10-0 lead on the serve of Reagan Hickey behind three kills each from sophomore Makenna Nold and freshman Kaelyn Snoozy. The Mustangs managed to pull within four points at 23-19, but the early deficit proved to be too much to overcome as CSP hung on for the 25-19 win. The Golden Bear offense found its groove early as they logged 20 kills on a .405 hitting percentage in the opening frame while limiting SMSU to 10 kills on .152 hitting.

The second set unfolded in the opposite fashion, as SMSU jumped out to a quick 10-4 lead and held control throughout, cruising to a 25-16 victory to even the match.

The Mustangs took control again early in set three as they worked out to a 7-2 advantage. The Golden Bears fought back and eventually tied the set at 15 each. From there, the set contained 10 ties with CSP fighting off three SMSU set point opportunities before the Mustangs finally managed to close it out with a kill and a service ace to win the extended set 29-27.

Tied at 11 each early in the fourth set, the Golden Bears put together a 5-1 run to take a 16-12 advantage that they would never relinquish. The CSP lead never dipped below three from that point on as Concordia went on to win the set 25-18 and send the match to a decisive fifth set.

SMSU took control early in the fifth set with a 6-1 advantage, but the Golden Bears claimed five straight points to even the set at six each. With CSP trailing by just one at 10-9 a few serves later, the Mustangs claimed three of the next four points to create breathing room at 13-10. Concordia pulled back within one as SMSU held match point at 14-13, but the Mustangs got the kill they needed to claim the match and end CSP's eight-match winning streak.

The Golden Bears held slight advantages in most statistical categories as a team, leading in kills (69-66), assists (66-65), total blocks (12-9), digs (84-77), and hitting percentage (.257-.239).

Nold had a career night for the Golden Bears, racking up a career-high 25 kills and adding 14 digs, four blocks, and a service ace while hitting .288. Senior Ellie Sieling also logged a double-double for the Bears, matching her career high with 17 kills while also contributing 18 digs and a pair of blocks. Snoozy was the only other Golden Bear in double digures on offense, finishing with 11 kills.

Playing against her former team, sophomore Natalee Rolbiecki had one of her best performances in two seasons as a Golden Bear, tallying a team-leading 19 digs to lead the CSP defense. Libero Cassie Sieling added 17 digs of her own.

At the net, middle blocker Kelsey Cooper finished with six blocks and five kills while Mehlayna Straub added five blocks and nine kills.

Sophomore Reagan Hickey paced the Golden Bear offense for a majority of the match, logging 37 assists and five digs throughout the match. Redshirt freshman Audrey Waterman added 21 assists, five blocks, and two digs.

The Golden Bears will wrap up their weekend road trip on Saturday afternoon, taking on Sioux Falls (10-6, 5-3 NSIC) at 2 p.m.