ST. PAUL, Minn. – The top-seeded No. 5 Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (25-4) will host fifth-seeded Sioux Falls (20-9) in the semifinals of the NSIC Tournament on Friday evening at the Gangelhoff Center.

NSIC TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
The Golden Bears clinched a share of their 15th NSIC regular season title last weekend, earning the tournament's top seed over co-champion Wayne State via the conference's tie-breaking procedures. As the top seed in the tournament, CSP will host both semifinal matches and the championship match at the Gangelhoff Center.  

Third-seeded St. Cloud State will take on second-seeded Wayne State at 5 p.m. on Friday, while Concordia vs. Sioux Falls will follow at approximately 7:30 p.m. Saturday's championship match is scheduled for 5 p.m.

The semifinals and championship match will be streamed on the NSIC Network for a charge of $10 per match or $15 for a tournament pass. 

Tickets are available online at cspbears.com/tickets. Single game tickets are $15 for adults and $5 for students, while children ages 5 and under are free. Weekend passes covering all three matches are also available for $25 for adults and $8 for students. CSP student-athlete passes and all-sports passes are NOT valid for any NSIC Tournament games. The first 100 CSP students will receive free admission with a valid student ID courtesy of the CSP athletic department.

NSIC TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Including Tuesday's quarterfinal win over Minnesota Duluth, Concordia has gone 33-9 overall in the conference tournament in 17 trips. CSP has reached the tournament's championship match 12 times and has won seven titles (2004, 2005, 2006, 2015, 2016, 2019, and 2023).
 
Last season, Concordia defeated Minnesota State in four sets in the opening round and topped Wayne State in five sets in the semifinals before falling to top-seeded St. Cloud State in the NSIC Championship.

IN THE POLLS
The Golden Bears moved into the top five in the most recent AVCA Coaches Poll for the first time since week two of the 2024 season, coming in at No. 5 with a total of 975 points.

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 No. 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.

NCAA CENTRAL REGION RANKINGS
The third and final NCAA Volleyball Regional Rankings of 2025 were released on Wednesday afternoon, and Concordia-St. Paul was ranked fourth in the central region.

CSP, Wayne State, St. Cloud State, and Minnesota State each appeared in the third edition of the rankings. The third edition of the rankings considers all matches played through November 16, 2025.

The NSIC, the Mid-America Athletic Association (MIAA) and the Great American Conference (GAC) make up the 40-team NCAA Central Region.  The top eight teams in the region will advance to the NCAA region tournament on December 4-7.  Automatic bids are granted to the winners of the MIAA, GAC and NSIC postseason tournaments, with the remaining five spots awarded on an at-large basis. 

The NCAA Volleyball selection show will be streamed online on Monday, Nov. 24 at 6:30 p.m. (CT) on NCAA.com.

ALL-NSIC PICKS
Last Wednesday, the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference released the 2025 Volleyball All-Conference Teams and Concordia-St. Paul's Makenna Nold was named NSIC Player of the Year while Head Coach Brady Starkey was named Coach of the Year. Nold, Cassie Sieling, Ellie Sieling, and Mehlayna Straub were named All-NSIC First Team while Kaelyn Snoozy was named to the Second Team.

With five All-NSIC picks, CSP extends its streak to 23 consecutive seasons with at least four all-conference selections as they have reached that mark every season since 2002.

Nold's NSIC Player of the Year selection is the seventh in CSP volleyball history, joining Joy Wubben (2004), Jessica Lucia (2005, 2006), Maggie McNamara (2008, 2009), and Megan Carlson (2011).  

Starkey has now been named NSIC Coach of the Year seven times, previously earning the honor in 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, and 2017.

STAT SHEET STANDOUTS
NSIC Player of the Year Makenna Nold remains atop the conference leaderboard in both kills per set (4.21) and points per set (5.16) with both marks ranking in the top 14 in all of Division II. The sophomore also sits third in the league in aces per set (0.45).  

Defensively, senior libero Cassie Sieling leads the team with 4.13 digs per set, seventh-most in the NSIC. She also sits in the top seven in the conference with 0.41 aces per set.
Senior Ellie Sieling has been a key two-way player for the Golden Bears, ranking second on the team and 12th in the conference with 3.28 digs per set while averaging 2.91 kills per set, the second-best mark on the team.

Sophomore Reagan Hickey has paced the Golden Bear offense with an average of 7.28 assists per set, good for eighth-most in the league. Redshirt freshman Audrey Waterman also ranks in the top nine in the conference with an average of 6.22 assists per set.
 
Sophomore middle blocker Kelsey Cooper ranks 10^th in the NSIC with 0.90 blocks per set, while junior Mehlayna Straub ranks 11th in the conference with 0.88 blocks per set while also contributing 2.87 kills per set.

As a team, the Golden Bears lead the NSIC in several key categories, including points per set (18.93) and assists per set (13.76), while leading all of Division II with a .302 hitting percentage.

SIOUX FALLS SERIES HISTORY
The Golden Bears hold a 17-6 lead in the all-time series against the Cougars and enter Friday's match riding a four-match winning streak over USF. When playing at the Gangelhoff Center, CSP holds an 8-2 advantage.

The two teams have met just once in the NSIC Tournament, with the Cougars claiming a four-set win over the Golden Bears in the 2018 tournament quarterfinals at the Gangelhoff Center.

LAST MEETING VS USF
The Golden Bears traveled to Sioux Falls to take on the Cougars on October 11 earlier this season, securing a sweep by scores of 25-16, 25-23, and 25-16.

In the opening set, Concordia rallied from an early 6-3 deficit with an 11-3 run fueled by strong serving from senior Ellie Sieling and key kills by Straub and sophomore Makenna Nold. The Golden Bears controlled the rest of the set, closing on a 7-1 surge capped by a Kaelyn Snoozy kill to win 25-16.

The second set was tightly contested, featuring several early ties before CSP used a 6-1 run to pull ahead 9-4. The Golden Bears looked poised to finish the set quickly as they led 19-11, but Sioux Falls battled back with 11 points in the following 13 serves to gain a 22-21 lead. Concordia quickly regained control from there, winning four of the next five points to close out the set 25-23.

In the third set, Sioux Falls jumped out to a 5-1 lead before Concordia responded with a 7-2 run to take control. Concordia never trailed after that, closing the set with a run of six straight points to win 25-16 and complete the sweep.

Concordia-St. Paul hit an impressive .385 as a team throughout the match, finishing with 52 kills against only 12 errors on 104 total attacks. The Golden Bears also added eight service aces and five total blocks while limiting the Cougars to a .219 hitting percentage, 36 kills, and just a single ace.

Ellie Sieling led the offensive charge with 12 kills on .360 hitting to go along with three service aces and eight digs. Snoozy matched her efficiency with 12 kills of her own while hitting .370 and adding two blocks and two digs. Straub continued her strong play in the middle, collecting 11 kills at a match-leading .563 clip with three block assists. Kelsey Cooper added seven kills and two blocks while hitting .545 for the Golden Bears.

Setter Audrey Waterman distributed the offense effectively, tallying 29 assists, four service aces, and a dig, while Reagan Hickey added 17 assists. Cassie Sieling anchored the defense with 10 digs, and Nold contributed across the board with 10 kills, 11 digs, and three block assists.

For Sioux Falls, Sadie Voss led the way with 11 kills and three digs, while Ella Walker hit .583 with nine kills. Setter Elise Gillen recorded 18 assists, and Gretchen Volk paced the back row with 10 digs.