ST. PAUL, Minn. – The No. 10 Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (14-4, 10-1 NSIC) will face off with a trio of Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference opponents this week, playing at Winona State (10-9, 5-6 NSIC) on Tuesday evening before hosting UMary (5-14, 2-9 NSIC) and Minot State (3-17, 1-10 NSIC) on Friday and 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 2-0 week that saw CSP sweep a pair of top-25 teams in No. 11 St. Cloud State and No. 25 Minnesota State, the Golden Bears came in at No. 10 for the second consecutive week in the eighth American Volleyball Coaches Association Division II Poll of the season.

The Golden Bears collected 781 points in the poll, coming in 117 points ahead of No. 11 St. Cloud State and just nine points behind No. 9 Lynn.  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 16-0 record.

CSP is one of seven Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference representatives in the poll with Wayne State (6), St. Cloud State (11), Southwest Minnesota State (17), Minnesota Duluth (18), Northern State (22), and Minnesota State (23) 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 coming off a 2-0 week that saw them secure sweeps of both No. 11 St. Cloud State and No. 25 Minnesota State last week.

Senior Cassie Sieling, the reigning NSIC Defensive Player of the Week, anchored CSP's defensive effort in both matches. In the win over St. Cloud State, she finished with 18 digs. In the sweep of Minnesota State, she added 15 digs, four assists, and a service ace.

Sophomore Makenna Nold led Concordia's offense, logging two double-doubles with 14 kills and 10 digs against SCSU and 16 kills with 12 digs in the win over MSU.

Senior Ellie Sieling nearly had two double-doubles of her own, recording eight kills and 13 digs against SCSU and 10 kills and 10 digs against MSU.


SIELING THE DEAL: SENIOR HITS MILESTONE, EARNS NSIC RECOGNITION
Senior libero Cassie Sieling reached a massive career milestone last week, recording 18 digs against St. Cloud State and adding 15 against Minnesota State to put her over 1,000 for her career, becoming the 24^th Golden Bear to do so. For her efforts in the massive top 25 wins, Sieling was named the NSIC Defensive Player of the Week for the second time in her career.

STAT SHEET STANDOUTS
Makenna Nold remains atop the conference leaderboard in both kills per set (4.29) and points per set (5.29) with both marks ranking in the top 13 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 22^nd in all of Division II with a .381 hitting percentage while tallying 114 kills on the season. Cooper also ranks fifth in the conference with 1.02 blocks per set this season.

Defensively, senior libero Cassie Sieling leads the team with 3.79 digs per set, ninth most in the NSIC. The senior reached a massive career milestone last week, recording 18 digs against St. Cloud State and adding 15 against Minnesota State to put her over 1,000 for her career, becoming the 24^th Golden Bear to do so.

Senior Ellie Sieling has been a key two-way player for the Golden Bears, ranking second on the team and 13^th in the conference with 3.37 digs per set while averaging 2.76 kills per set, the third-best mark on the team.

Sophomore Reagan Hickey has paced the Golden Bear offense with an average of 7.93 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 6.43 assists per set.
 
Junior Mehlayna Straub ranks 12th in the conference with 0.87 blocks per set while also contributing 2.84 kills per set.

As a team, the Golden Bears lead the NSIC in several key categories including points per set (18.73), assists per set (13.71), and opponent blocks (1.40) while ranking second in the league in hitting percentage (.291), kills per set (14.65), blocks per set (2.16), opponent hitting percentage (.165), and opponent kills (11.26).
 
WINONA STATE SERIES HISTORY
The Golden Bears and Warriors have met a total of 51 times in prior seasons with CSP holding a dominant 40-11 record in those matches. Concordia enters Tuesday's meeting riding a six-match winning streak against WSU that dates back to 2022. CSP's longest winning streak over the Warriors reached 24 matches stretching from 2001-2015. The two teams met earlier this season with CSP winning in four sets at the Gangelhoff Center on September 23.

Winona State's most recent victory over CSP came during the 2021 season, when the Golden Bears dropped two matchups to the Warriors. Those contests marked WSU's only back-to-back wins in the series and their lone triumph at the Gangelhoff Center.

SCOUTING THE WARRIORS
The Warriors enter Tuesday's match with an overall record of 10-9 and a 5-6 mark in NSIC play. In six meetings against ranked opponents this week, WSU holds a record of 1-5 with a win over No. 15 Northern State and losses to No. 13 Concordia-St. Paul, No. 9 Wayne State, No. 17 Southwest Minnesota State, No. 25 Minnesota State, and No. 11 St. Cloud State.

As a team, WSU's biggest strength lies in defense at the net. To this point in the season, the Warriors lead the NSIC with an average of 2.23 blocks per set, with senior Gianna Vollrath leading the charge with an NSIC best 1.13 blocks per set individually.

The Warriors have also been strong on service this season, ranking fifth in the conference with 123 service aces (1.70 per set). WSU's offense sits 11^th in the conference in both kills per set (12.51) and assists per set (11.56).  

UMARY SERIES HISTORY
Friday will mark the 27^th edition of the series between the Golden Bears and the Marauders. CSP has never lost to UMary, winning all 26 prior matchups and recording sweeps on 23 occasions.

When the two teams met earlier this season on September 27 in Bismarck, N.D., Concordia claimed the match with a sweep of the Marauders.

SCOUTING THE MARAUDERS
The Marauders enter the week holding an overall record of 5-14 with a 2-9 mark in NSIC play.

As a team, Umary's top statistical strength lies with its service as the Marauders rank ninth in the NSIC with 1.49 aces per set. On offense, Umary ranks 14^th in the league in kills per set (11.56) and 12^th in hitting percentage (.192). Defensively, the Marauders sit 15^th in digs per set (13.07) and 12^th in blocks per set (1.53).

Sophomore Judith Burke leads the Marauder offense with 3.41 kills per set, the 10^th best individual mark in the conference. Setter Maddy Freed ranks ninth in the NSIC with 6.73 assists per set.

MINOT STATE SERIES HISTORY
Saturday's meeting with the Beavers will mark the 17^th in the history of the series, with CSP holding a flawless record of 16-0 against Minot State to this point. There have been only two matches containing more than three sets, with the Beavers sending matches to four sets on their home floor in the 2013 and 2019 seasons.

The two teams faced off earlier this season on September 26 in Minot, N.D., with Concordia winning in straight sets.

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS  
The Beavers enter the week with an overall record of 3-17, including a record of 1-10 in NSIC play.

Defense has been Minot State's most consistent attribute this season, with the Beavers ranking fifth in the NSIC in total digs (1,092) and ninth in digs per set (15.38). On offense, Minot State sits 15^th in both kills per set (10.32) and hitting percentage (.092).

Junior Caton Pearcy leads the Beaver defense with 232 digs this season for an average of 3.36 per set, the 14^th-best mark in the NSIC.