ST. PAUL, Minn. – The No. 10 Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (12-4, 8-1 NSIC) faces a split week of NSIC action, traveling to take on No. 11 St. Cloud State (13-4, 8-1 NSIC) on Thursday before returning home to host No. 25 Minnesota State (15-2, 7-2 NSIC) on Saturday.
 
DOWNLOAD THE APP
Fans can download the CSP Bears fan app, free of charge and available in the App Store or on Google Play. The app contains rosters, schedules, scores, stats, news, social media and more! Customize your options to get notifications to your favorite teams, as well. Search "CSP Bears" in the app store to stay up to date on Golden Bear athletics.

WATCH ONLINE - NSIC NETWORK
All Golden Bear NSIC volleyball matches will be available to watch online, free of charge, powered by the NSIC Network, supported by BlueFrame Technology.

Visit nsicnetwork.com/cspbears on a laptop or desktop computer, download the NSIC Network app on your mobile device, or watch on your supported OTT provider such as Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Android TV. Search "NSIC Network" and download the app for the league's full sport and team lineups. NSIC NETWORK FAQ

BUY TICKETS TO HOME GAMES ONLINE
Fans are highly encouraged to purchase tickets online at cspbears.com/tickets prior to game day. All ticketed events for the 25-26 academic year will utilize the Vivenu online ticket platform found at that link and fans must scan a mobile ticket to enter. Tickets will still be sold on site on game day, but purchases are card-only and include additional fees. The best way for fans to make their game day entry as smooth as possible is to purchase tickets online in advance. CSP students, faculty and staff will be able to download and transfer their free passes through Vivenu.

IN THE POLLS
Following a 1-1 week in which the Golden Bears fell to No. 17 Southwest Minnesota State and swept Sioux Falls, the Golden Bears fell two spots to No. 10 in the seventh American Volleyball Coaches Association Division II Poll of the season.

The Golden Bears collected 723 points in the poll, coming in 24 points ahead of No. 11 St. Cloud State and 75 points behind No. 9 Simon Fraser.  The University of Tampa remained in the top spot with 1,175 points and all 47 first-place votes as the Spartans hold a perfect 14-0 record.

CSP is one of seven Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference representatives in the poll with Wayne State (7), St. Cloud State (11), Southwest Minnesota State (15), Minnesota Duluth (17), Northern State (22), and Minnesota State (25) each remaining in the top 25.

Concordia has been a mainstay near the top of the poll for nearly two decades as they have ranked outside the top 10 for just 12 weeks since 2003, never ranking below #15. The Golden Bears have ranked #1 at least once in 16 of the past 20 seasons. In total, CSP has spent an incredible 84 weeks at the top team in the country since debuting there in the 2004 preseason poll.

LAST TIME OUT
The Golden Bears are fresh off a 1-1 week that saw them suffer their first setback in conference play this season as they fell to No. 17 Southwest Minnesota State in five sets on Friday and swept Sioux Falls on Saturday.

Sophomore Makenna Nold had a career night in the match against SMSU, setting a new career mark with 25 kills while adding 14 digs and four block assists. In the sweep of Sioux Falls, Nold finished with 10 kills, 11 digs, and three blocks.

Senior Ellie Sieling nearly had two double-doubles of her own, matching her career high with 17 kills while adding 18 digs against SMSU and tallying 12 kills and eight digs in the sweep of Sioux Falls.

Freshman Kaelyn Snoozy reached double figures on offense in both matches, tallying 11 kills against SMSU and 12 against Sioux Falls.

STAT SHEET STANDOUTS
Makenna Nold remains atop the conference leaderboard in both kills per set (4.21) and points per set (5.21) with both marks ranking in the top 15 in all of Division II. The sophomore also sits third in the league in aces per set (0.50).  

Sophomore transfer Kelsey Cooper continues to be CSP's most efficient attacker, leading the team and ranking sixth in the conference and 15^th in all of Division II with a .386 hitting percentage while tallying 104 kills on the season. Cooper also ranks top seven in the conference with 0.96 blocks per set this season.

Defensively, senior libero Cassie Sieling leads the team with 3.61 digs per set, ninth most in the NSIC. The senior enters the weekend with 971 career digs, needing just 29 to become the 24^th member of the 1,000 dig club.

Senior Ellie Sieling has been a key two-way player for the Golden Bears, ranking second on the team and 14^th in the conference with 3.25 digs per set while averaging 2.71 kills per set, the third best mark on the team.

Sophomore Reagan Hickey has paced the Golden Bear offense with an average of 8.07 assists per set, good for eighth most in the league. Redshirt freshman Audrey Waterman has also climbed into the top 10 in the conference with an average of 6.47 assists per set.
 
Junior Mehlayna Straub ranks eighth in the conference with 0.93 blocks per set while also contributing 2.82 kills per set.

As a team, the Golden Bears lead the NSIC in several key categories including points per set (18.68), hitting percentage (.296), and assists per set (13.66) while ranking second in the league in kills per set (14.61), blocks per set (2.14), opponent hitting percentage (.167), and opponent kills (11.11).
 
ST. CLOUD STATE SERIES HISTORY
Heading into this week's meeting, the Golden Bears hold an all-time record of 34-8 against the Huskies. When playing in St. Cloud, CSP has a 13-6 edge in the 19 prior matches.  St. Cloud State has had the edge in the series of late, winning four of the last five over CSP, including both meetings last season.  

SCOUTING THE HUSKIES
The Huskies enter the weekend holding an overall record of 13-4 with a mark of 8-1 in conference play.

As a team, SCSU's high-powered offense leads the NSIC with 14.95 kills per set, a mark that ranks second in all of Division II. They also rank second in the conference in assists per set (13.62) and fifth in hitting percentage (.267).

Defensively, the Huskies sit fifth in the league with 16.02 digs per set and rank 11^th with 1.75 blocks per set.

Individually, setter Braya LaPlant sits fourth in the conference with 11.25 assists per set while Ella Thompson leads the St. Cloud State offense with 3.47 kills per set, sixth most in the NSIC.

MINNESOTA STATE SERIES HISTORY
Heading into this week's meeting, the Golden Bears hold an all-time record of 37-4 against the Mavericks with an active winning streak of 19 matches dating back to 2014. Concordia has never lost to MSU at the Gangelhoff Center as the Bears hold a perfect mark of 19-0 in home matches.   

The two teams met twice last season with Concordia winning both matches in four sets at the Gangelhoff Center. The first meeting came on October 24 while the second was in the first round of the NSIC Tournament on November 19.

SCOUTING THE MAVERICKS
Minnesota State enters the weekend with a record of 15-2 and a 7-2 mark in conference play. Both losses came last week as the Mavericks feel to both No. 11 Wayne State and Augustana.

The Mavericks have been tough on serve-receive this season, leading the conference and ranking sixth in the nation with 2.49 aces per set. Sophomore Jadyn Leser has led the way individually in that category, pacing the league and ranking second in all of Division II with 0.75 aces per set.

The MSU defense has held opponents to low efficiency marks as the Mavericks lead the conference with an opponent hitting percentage of just .137 on the season.

Ellie Kline has been one of the top defensive specialists in the NSIC, ranking third in the conference in digs per set with 5.09.