ST. CLOUD, Minn. – The No. 10 Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (13-4, 9-1 NSIC) secured a pivotal sweep over No. 11 St. Cloud State (13-5, 8-2 NSIC) in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play on Thursday evening at Halenbeck Hall, winning three tight sets by scores of 25-22, 25-22, and 25-21.

The victory snapped CSP's four-match losing streak to St. Cloud State and improved the Golden Bears' all-time record against the Huskies to 35-8 with a mark of 14-6 in road matches.

St. Cloud State held a narrow advantage for most of the opening set as the Huskies held a 17-14 lead, but the Golden Bears claimed six of the following eight points to take their first lead at 20-19. After alternating points for the following three serves, Concordia finished strong with a 4-1 run to secure a tone-setting 25-22 victory.

Set two was another tightly contested battle containing three lead changes and five ties, but ended the same way as its predecessor as CSP claimed four of the final five points to secure yet another 25-22 set win. Tough serving by the Golden Bears gave CSP an edge in the set as they finished with four aces and two service errors while St. Cloud State had just one ace with two errors.

The Huskies looked poised to bounce back as they led 7-2 early in the third frame, but Concordia slowly chipped away at the deficit and used a run of three straight points to tie the set at 18-18. A 7-3 CSP run followed, giving Concordia a 25-21 set win to complete the sweep.

For the match, CSP hit .238 as a team with 43 kills against 12 errors on 130 swings, while limiting the Huskies to .156 hitting with 43 kills and 22 attack errors. The Golden Bears added six service aces and 11 total blocks in the match.

Sophomore Makenna Nold led all players with 14 kills while hitting .289 and adding 10 digs, four blocks, and a pair of service aces for a total of 18.5 points. Junior Mehlayna Straub was efficient in the middle with nine kills on .368 hitting and a solo block, while senior Ellie Sieling delivered eight kills, 13 digs, and one block assist. Sophomore Kelsey Cooper chipped in six kills and a match-high five total blocks, and freshman Kaelyn Snoozy added five kills, four digs, and a block.

The setting duo of Reagan Hickey and Audrey Waterman combined for 37 assists, with Hickey recording 22 and Waterman 15 to go with two service aces and a kill.

Libero Cassie Sieling anchored the defense with 18 digs in the match. The senior is now just 11 digs shy of the 1,000 mark for her career as she sits at 989 through 96 matches played at CSP. Senior Natalee Rolbiecki added 11 digs and a service ace for Concordia.

For St. Cloud State, Ella Thompson led the attack with 10 kills on .333 hitting and three blocks, while Shelby Kimm added 10 kills and 19 digs. Setter Braya LaPlant handed out 37 assists, and Abby Wachal added 14 digs.

The Golden Bears will now return home to host No. 25 Minnesota State on Saturday afternoon.