ST. PAUL, Minn. - The second-seeded No. 6 Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (26-5) will face seventh-seeded No. 11 Central Oklahoma (27-5) in the NCAA Central Region Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. in Kearney, Nebraska on the campus of the University of Nebraska at Kearney.

TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets can be purchased in advance here. No cash will be accepted at the gates. 

Prices:
Adults: $12
Seniors & Students: $9
Youth (5-12): $6
Children (under 5): free

STREAMING INFORMATION
All 2025 NCAA Central Region Tournament matches will be streamed live on MIAA Network free of charge.

SERIES HISTORY VS THE FIELD
St. Cloud State: 36-9 overall, 2-1 in NCAA Tournament
Central Oklahoma: 2-0 overall, 2-0 in NCAA Tournament
Nebraska Kearney: 5-1 overall, 5-1 in NCAA Tournament
Missouri Western State: 3-1, 2-0 in NCAA Tournament
Washburn: 4-3 overall, 2-2 in NCAA Tournament
Wayne State: 39-18 overall,  4-2 in NCAA Tournament
Oklahoma Baptist: 2-0 overall, 1-0 in NCAA Tournament

LAST MEETING VS THE FIELD
St. Cloud State: L, 0-3 (11/22/2025)
Central Oklahoma: W, 3-0 (11/30/2017)
Nebraska Kearney: W, 3-2 (11/18/2022)
Missouri Western State: L, 1-3 (9/12/25)
Washburn: L, 0-3 (12/4/21)
Wayne State: W, 3-0 (10/4/25)
Oklahoma Baptist: W, 3-0 (11/30/23)

NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY
The Golden Bears have made it into the NCAA Tournament field in all 22 seasons under head coach Brady Starkey and have won 12 Central Region titles during that span. CSP has gone 81-12 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, and has collected nine NCAA Division II National Championships, with seven in a row from 2007-13 before claiming two more in 2016-17. Last season, Concordia advanced to the NCAA Central Region Tournament semifinals, falling to top-seeded St. Cloud State in four sets.

The Golden Bears are 19-0 in regional quarterfinals, with two byes, and have won their first match all 21 prior years under Starkey. Concordia has reached the NCAA Region Championship (Sweet Sixteen) in every season except for 2014 and 2024.

LAST TIME OUT
The Golden Bears last saw action on the weekend of November 21-22 when they hosted the semifinals and championship of the NSIC Tournament at the Gangelhoff Center. CSP defeated Sioux Falls in straight sets on Friday and fell to St. Cloud State on Saturday in the championship match.

The Golden Bears delivered a balanced performance in the win over Sioux Falls, finishing with 45 kills and a .259 hitting percentage while the Cougars logged 41 kills on .190 hitting. CSP also owned advantages in aces (5–2), digs (48–47), and assists (44-38) while the teams were nearly even at the net with Concordia posting five total blocks to USF's seven.

Freshman Kaelyn Snoozy led the CSP attack with 11 kills on a .286 hitting percentage. Junior Mehlayna Straub was just behind her with 10 kills on .444 hitting to go along with three blocks and two digs.  Sophomore Makenna Nold neared a double-double with nine kills, 10 digs, and three block assists.  

Senior Ellie Sieling was all over the court, finishing with eight kills and a team-high 13 digs, while Kelsey Cooper chipped in 6 kills and two blocks. Senior libero Cassie Sieling added 10 digs for Concordia's back row.

Setting duties were split effectively, as Audrey Waterman tallied 22 assists, three digs, a block, and a team-high three service aces, while Reagan Hickey contributed 17 assists and two digs.

In the championship match, Concordia hit .192 with 41 kills and 16 errors on 130 attacks, while St. Cloud State hit .278 with 53 kills and 16 errors on 133 swings. The Golden Bears held a narrow edge in blocks (9-8), but SCSU led in aces (4-1), assists (49-39), and digs (62-57).

The Golden Bears led for much of the opening set and held a 21-18 advantage late in the frame, but the Huskies claimed three straight points to tie it up at 21 each. It took extra points to decide a winner with Concordia holding three set point opportunities and St. Cloud having two, but back-to-back kills from SCSU's Shelby Kimm ultimately gave the Huskies a 29-27 win.

The Huskies held a comfortable 23-17 lead late in the second set, but Concordia put together a 5-1 run to pull within two points at 24-22. Kimm came through again for the Huskies, however, recording the final kill once again to put St. Cloud State up 2-0.

Set three looked competitive early on with the teams locked in a 7-7 tie, but a 14-2 run followed for the Huskies to give them a commanding 21-9 lead that would hold the rest of the way with SCSU eventually claiming a 25-15 win to close it out.

Junior Mehlayna Straub led the charge for CSP's offense, logging a team-high 11 kills on .500 hitting and adding a dig and a block assist. Makenna Nold also finished in double figures with 11 kills, five digs, and four block assists. Both Nold and Straub were named to the all-tournament team at the conclusion of the match.

Senior Cassie Sieling was strong in the back row for the Bears, leading all players in the match with 18 digs. Ellie Sieling also finished in double figures on defense with 15 digs while adding four kills and a block assist.

Middle blocker Kelsey Cooper led all players in the match with five block assists, while setter Audrey Waterman added three blocks, five digs, and 17 assists. Reagan Hickey contributed 18 assists and four digs.

IN THE POLLS
The Golden Bears moved down one spot to No. 6 in the most recent AVCA Coaches Poll. CSP received 907 votes in the poll, trailing No. 5 St. Cloud State by 13 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 seven weeks since 2003, never ranking below #15. The Golden Bears have ranked #1 at least once in 16 of the past 19 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.

ALL-REGION SELECTIONS
Both the American Volleyball Coaches Association and the Division II Conference Commissioners Association released their 2025 All-Region Teams on Wednesday, and Concordia-St. Paul's Makenna Nold was named both the AVCA Central Region Player of the Year and the D2CCA Central Region Player of the Year while Mehlayna Straub was named AVCA All-Region Honorable Mention and D2CCA All-Region Second Team. 

Nold is the sixth Concordia player to be named D2CCA Central Region Player of the Year, and the first since Megan Carlson in 2011. 

ALL-NSIC PICKS
On November 13, 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
Central Region Player of the Year Makenna Nold remains atop the conference leaderboard in both kills per set (4.16) and points per set (5.10), with both marks ranking in the top 16 in all of Division II. The sophomore also sits fourth in the league in aces per set (0.44) and 11^th in blocks per set (0.90)

Defensively, senior libero Cassie Sieling leads the team with 4.17 digs per set, seventh-most in the NSIC. She also sits in the top nine in the conference with 0.39 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 3.36 digs per set while averaging 2.85 kills per set, the third-best mark on the team.

Sophomore Reagan Hickey has paced the Golden Bear offense with an average of 7.19 assists per set, good for eighth most in the NSIC. Redshirt freshman Audrey Waterman also ranks in the top nine in the conference with an average of 6.24 assists per set.
 
Sophomore middle blocker Kelsey Cooper ranks eighth in the NSIC with 0.92 blocks per set, while junior Mehlayna Straub ranks 13th in the conference with 0.82 blocks per set, while also contributing 2.91 kills per set, second most on the team.

As a team, the Golden Bears rank second in the NSIC in points per set (18.86), kills per set (14.72), and assists per set (13.76), while sitting second in all of Division II with a .297 hitting percentage.