DENVER – The No. 11 Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (3-2) opened play at the Colorado Premier Challenge on Friday afternoon and evening, falling to Missouri Western State (6-0) in four sets in the opener before toppling No. 2 Angelo State (4-3) in four sets later in the day on the campus of Regis University.
MATCH 1: Missouri Western 3, Concordia-St. Paul 1
The Golden Bears began day one with a four-set loss to Missouri Western State. The Griffons took sets one and two by scores of 25-21 and 25-19 before the Golden Bears got on the board with a 25-19 win of their own in set three. MWSU finished strong in set four with a 25-22 win to take the match 3-1.
As a unit, the Golden Bears hit .237 in the match with 57 kills compared to MWSU's .278 hitting clip with 61 kills. Defensively, Concordia dominated the net with 16 block assists and two solo blocks to Missouri Western's four block assists and single solo block.
Sophomore Makenna Nold finished as the offensive leader for Concordia once again, matching her career high with 22 kills while adding nine digs, two service aces, and three block assists.
Senior Ellie Sieling notched her second double-double of the season for CSP with 11 kills and 15 digs in the match. Cassie Sieling led the back row with 17 digs.
Junior middle blocker Mehlayna Straub contributed on both offense and defense, tallying 12 kills on .385 hitting while leading the team with a season high six total blocks (two solo, four assists).
Redshirt freshman Audrey Waterman paced the offense with 30 set assists while sophomore Reagan Hickey added 19.
For the Griffons, Taylor Russell put on an offensive clinic with 21 kills on .486 hitting.
MATCH 2: Concordia-St. Paul 3, Angelo State 1
Following a first set that saw the Belles work out to an early lead and eventually claim a 25-20 victory, the Golden Bears responded with a dominant 25-10 win in set two to even the match. Concordia kept its foot on the gas in the third frame, jumping out to an early 14-7 lead and never trailing on the way to a 25-21 win. In set four, a five-point run by the Belles tied the set at 12 each. Concordia went on to win eight of the following 11 points to go up 20-15 and create enough separation to eventually claim another 25-21 win to take the match in four sets.
The Golden Bear offense was more effective in match two, hitting .360 with 61 kills while the defense limited the Belles to a .221 hitting percentage with 46 kills. Concordia also led in most other statistical categories with 59 assists to Angelo State's 43, a 50-40 advantage in digs, and a 10-5 edge in service aces.
Sophomore transfer Kelsey Cooper turned in her best performance as a Golden Bear thus far, logging 13 kills and no errors on 21 attack attempts for a .619 hitting percentage. Straub added 13 kills of her own on .478 hitting.
Nold had another strong outing in leading the offense for the Bears, tallying 20 kills on .389 hitting while adding four digs, two aces, and three total blocks. In five matches this season, Nold has now reached the 20-kill plateau three times.
Hickey was CSP's go-to setter in the second match of the day, finishing with 49 assists and eight digs. Ellie Sieling neared a double-double with 10 digs and eight kills while Cassie Sieling led the defense with 16 digs.
With the win, the Bears now hold a 4-1 record against the Belles all time with each meeting occurring at the Colorado Premier Challenge.
After going 1-1 in pool play on day one, the Golden Bears secured a spot in Saturday's silver bracket where they are slated to face No. 7 Ferris State (4-2) at 12:30 p.m. (CT) and either No. 21 Bentley or No. 3 MSU Denver in the final match later in the day.
