ST. PAUL, Minn. – The top-seeded No. 5 Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (25-4) claimed its 14^th straight victory on Tuesday evening, defeating eighth-seeded Minnesota Duluth (18-10) in four sets in the quarterfinals of the NSIC Tournament at the Gangelhoff Center.  

The Golden Bears delivered an efficient performance, finishing with 48 kills and just 10 errors on 115 swings for a .330 hitting percentage, while the Bulldogs hit .184 with 46 kills and 21 errors on 136 attacks. Concordia also owned statistical advantages in most other categories, including digs (54–50), blocks (8–2), and aces (13-5). Concordia's 13 aces were tied for 12^th most in a match in school history and the most in a single match since November 8, 2024, also against UMD.

The win was CSP's 12^th straight victory over Minnesota Duluth in a streak dating back to 2019, and improved Concordia's all-time record against the Bulldogs to 38-30 overall and 38-27 in the Division II era. The Golden Bears are now 33-9 all-time in the NSIC Tournament, including a mark of 15-2 in the opening round.

Senior Ellie Sieling paced the CSP attack with 11 kills, 10 digs, a service ace, and two blocks for her ninth double-double of the season. Junior Mehlayna Straub was incredibly efficient with 10 kills on a .526 hitting clip while adding three block assists. Kelsey Cooper and Kaelyn Snoozy added nine kills each for CSP, with Cooper also contributing five digs and a match-leading five blocks. Sophomore Makenna Nold finished with eight kills, eight digs, and four service aces, tied for the 10th-most aces in a four-set match in school history. 

At the service line, redshirt freshman setter Audrey Waterman was a difference-maker for Concordia, matching Nold with four aces to go along with 19 assists and three digs. Fellow setter Reagan Hickey added 22 assists and five digs of her own.

Defensively, senior libero Cassie Sieling anchored the back row with a match-high 15 digs, while senior Natalee Rolbiecki chipped in seven digs and three aces of her own.

Minnesota Duluth was led by Paige Decker, who notched 13 kills on .346 hitting, along with 12 kills from Madeline Guetzkow and eight from Kylie Broten. Libero Madison Reed recorded 11 digs to lead the Bulldogs' back row.

The opening set belonged entirely to CSP, as the Golden Bears used six aces and 14 kills on .520 hitting to take a dominant 25-9 win. Set two was far more competitive, featuring 13 ties and five lead changes before Concordia surged ahead with a late 10-3 run, securing a 25-19 victory.

UMD responded in the third with its best offensive frame of the night, hitting .519 to claim a 25-20 win. The Golden Bears regrouped in set four, hitting .300 and limiting the Bulldogs to a .136 hitting percentage to close out the match 25-20.

As the top seed in the NSIC Tournament, the Golden Bears will now host both semifinal matches and the championship match at the Gangelhoff Center this weekend. The Golden Bears will take on fifth-seeded Sioux Falls (S.D.) at 7:30 p.m. on Friday while second-seeded Wayne State and third-seeded St. Cloud State will battle for the other spot in the final two at 5 p.m. on Friday. Saturday's championship match is scheduled for a 5 p.m. first serve.