KEARNEY, Neb. – The second-seeded No. 6 Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (28-5) continued its 2025 NCAA Central Region Tournament run with a sweep of sixth-seeded No. 7 Washburn (27-5) in the semifinal round on Friday evening at the Health and Sports Center on the campus of Nebraska-Kearney.

The Golden Bears now advance to the NCAA Central Region Championship match (Sweet 16) for the 20^th time in 22 seasons under Head Coach Brady Starkey, where they will face fourth-seeded St. Cloud State at 5 p.m. on Saturday. It will be the 10th time since 2008 that two NSIC teams will meet in the region final, with nine of those including Concordia and two including St. Cloud State (both for SCSU will be against CSP).

Concordia is 13-6 in 19 previous region championship matches, most recently winning the regional in 2022 over St. Cloud State played at Wayne State. The Huskies are in the region title match for the second year in a row and third time in four years, aiming for their first regional crown. 

The win improved Concordia's all-time record in the region semifinals to 20-2, and moved CSP's all-time NCAA Tournament record to 83-12. The Golden Bears now hold a 5-3 advantage in the series against Washburn, including a 3-2 edge in NCAA Tournament matches.

Concordia's serve-receive proved pivotal as the Golden Bears served up six aces while Washburn had none. The Bears hit .236 for the match with 49 kills and 15 errors on 144 swings, while the Ichabods were limited to a .191 hitting percentage with 43 kills and 17 errors on 136 attempts.

Sophomore Makenna Nold led all players in the match with 20 total points, tallying 16 kills, three aces, two block assists, and nine digs. Middle blocker Kelsey Cooper also put together a strong performance, finishing with nine kills on a match-best .529 hitting percentage and adding four total blocks. Junior Mehlayna Straub and freshman Kaelyn Snoozy added eight and six kills, respectively.

Libero Cassie Sieling was outstanding for Concordia's back row, leading all players in the match with 19 digs. Fellow senior Ellie Sieling was second on the team with 14 digs, also contributing eight kills and a block assist, while Natalee Rolbiecki added 11 digs for the Bears.

Sophomore setter Reagan Hickey paced the Golden Bear offense with a match-high 22 set assists and also chipped in seven digs. Redshirt freshman Audrey Waterman added 20 assists and two digs.

The opening set was a back-and-forth affair early on, with neither team leading by more than two through the set's first 26 points. Tied at 12-12, the Golden Bears won the next three points to take a lead that they would never relinquish, riding a narrow advantage the rest of the way en route to a 25-21 set win.

Concordia found itself in trouble early in the second set as the Ichabods carved out an early 6-1 advantage. The Golden Bears responded with a 12-6 run to take their first lead of the set at 13-12. Two ties followed shortly after, but CSP never trailed for the remainder of the set, once again maintaining a narrow lead on the way to another 25-21 win.

The Ichabods looked to be firmly in control in the third set as they held a 16-10 advantage. The Golden Bears won the next three points to keep themselves in the set, but Washburn continued to maintain the lead. The Ichabods positioned themselves well to win the set and send the match to a fourth frame as they held a 22-17 lead, but Concordia demonstrated major resolve with a 6-1 run to tie it up at 23 each. A CSP attack error gave the Ichabods set point at 24-23, but a pair of Washburn attack errors and a kill by Straub capped off Concordia's' comeback bid to take the set 26-24 and complete the sweep.

Washburn was led by Austin Broadie and Brynne Topolski with nine kills each, while Autumn Gibbs anchored the Ichabod defense with 16 digs.

Concordia will seek its 14^th NCAA Regional title on Saturday, with the Golden Bears holding an all-time record of 13-6 in the region championship match.