KEARNEY, Neb. – The second-seeded No. 6 Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (27-5) opened the 2025 NCAA Central Region Tournament with a sweep of seventh-seeded No. 11 Central Oklahoma (27-6) on Thursday afternoon at the Health and Sports Center on the campus of Nebraska-Kearney.
The Golden Bears will now advance to the NCAA Central Region Semifinals, where they will face sixth-seeded No. 7 Washburn (27-4) at 4 p.m. on Friday.
The win improved Concordia's all-time record in the region quarterfinals to 20-0, with the Golden Bears reaching at least the region semifinals in all 22 seasons under Head Coach
Brady Starkey. The victory also moved CSP's all-time NCAA Tournament record to 82-12.
The Golden Bears dominated the opening frame, hitting .333 with 14 kills while limiting the Bronchos to a .000 hitting clip with just eight kills on the way to a 25-11 win. Sophomore
Makenna Nold got off to a strong start for CSP, hitting .429 with four kills and five digs in the set.
Concordia appeared poised for another comfortable win in set two as they held an 18-11 advantage, but a 7-3 UCO run followed to cut the deficit to three at 21-18. The Bronchos went on to pull within two at 24-22, but a kill from Nold provided the final dagger for CSP as the Bears hung on for the 25-22 win to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
Both teams spent time with the lead early in set three, but it was UCO holding a 16-12 edge midway through. The Golden Bears got hot at that point on the serve of senior
Ellie Sieling, winning the next six points and eight of the next nine to take a 20-17 advantage of their own. The Bronchos would not go down without a fight, however, responding with a 5-1 run to jump back on top 22-21. Tied at 23 each shortly after, back-to-back kills from Nold and Sieling gave CSP the 25-23 win to complete the sweep.
Nold was outstanding for the Golden Bears, tallying 14 digs and 17 kills with just five errors on 39 swings for a .308 hitting percentage. Senior
Ellie Sieling led the Golden Bear defense with 19 digs, also chipping in five kills and a pair of aces. Libero
Cassie Sieling had another strong outing with 18 digs, six assists, and two service aces.
Making her NCAA Tournament debut, freshman
Kaelyn Snoozy proved up to the challenge with 11 kills, three blocks, and two digs for CSP.
Mehlayna Straub and
Kelsey Cooper added nine and eight kills, respectively.
Redshirt freshman
Audrey Waterman led Concordia's setting tandem with 22 assists and six digs, while sophomore
Reagan Hickey added 18 assists and seven digs.
As a unit, the Golden Bears hit .236 with 50 kills and 17 errors on 140 swings while limiting UCO to a .121 hitting clip with 35 kills and 18 errors on 140 attacks. CSP also won the battle at the service line with a 4-0 edge in aces and managed a 76-66 advantage in digs, but the Bronchos controlled the net as they out-blocked Concordia 10-4.
The Bronchos were led by Sydney Huck with 12 kills and six digs, while Kaitlyn Parrott led all players in the match with 23 digs for UCO.
Friday's meeting with Washburn will mark the eighth in the all-time series between the teams, and the fifth in NCAA Tournament play. Concordia leads the series 4-3 overall, while the teams are each 2-2 in four NCAA Tournament matches against one another.
