ST. PAUL, Minn. – The No. 14 Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (4-3) will open Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play at home this weekend, hosting conference newcomer Jamestown (N.D.) (5-2) on Friday evening and No. 15 Northern State (S.D.) (8-0) on Saturday at the Gangelhoff Center.
 
DOWNLOAD THE APP
Fans can download the CSP Bears fan app, free of charge and available in the App Store or on Google Play. The app contains rosters, schedules, scores, stats, news, social media and more! Customize your options to get notifications to your favorite teams, as well. Search "CSP Bears" in the app store to stay up to date on Golden Bear athletics.

WATCH ONLINE - NSIC NETWORK
All Golden Bear NSIC volleyball matches will be available to watch online, free of charge, powered by the NSIC Network, supported by BlueFrame Technology. Visit nsicnetwork.com/cspbears on a laptop or desktop computer, download the NSIC Network app on your mobile device, or watch on your supported OTT provider such as Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Android TV. Search "NSIC Network" and download the app for the league's full sport and team lineups. NSIC NETWORK FAQ

BUY TICKETS TO HOME GAMES ONLINE
Fans are highly encouraged to purchase tickets online at cspbears.com/tickets prior to game day. All ticketed events for the 25-26 academic year will utilize the Vivenu online ticket platform found at that link and fans must scan a mobile ticket to enter. Tickets will still be sold on site on game day, but purchases are card-only and include additional fees. The best way for fans to make their game day entry as smooth as possible is to purchase tickets online in advance. CSP students, faculty and staff will be able to download and transfer their free passes through Vivenu.

COLORADO PREMIER CHALLENGE RECAP
 The Golden Bears played four matches at the nation's top Division II volleyball tournament in Denver last weekend, posting a 2-2 record with wins over No. 2 Angelo State and No. 5 West Texas A&M and losses to No. 7 Ferris State and Missouri Western State.

Sophomore Makenna Nold led the Golden Bear offense with a total of 65 kills, averaging 4.64 kills per set and 5.43 points per set throughout the tournament. She recorded a .234 hitting percentage, and matched her career high with 22 kills against Missouri Western

IN THE POLLS
After going 2-2 at the Colorado Premier Challenge last weekend, the Golden Bears fell three spots to 14^th in the third American Volleyball Coaches Association Division II Poll of the season.

The Golden Bears amassed 582 points in the poll, coming in 220 points ahead of 15^th-place Northern State and 28 points behind 13^th-place Angelo State. Defending Division II champion Lynn University held onto the top spot once again, receiving 44 of 47 possible first-place votes and collecting a total of 1,161 points.

CSP is one of six Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference representatives in the poll with Southwest Minnesota State (6), Northern State (15), St. Cloud State (16), Wayne State (17), and Minnesota Duluth (24) also representing the league in the third edition of the rankings.

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 10 weeks since 2003, never ranking below #15. The Golden Bears have ranked #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.

STAT SHEET STANDOUTS
Concordia sophomore Makenna Nold has been one of the NSIC's top offensive players so far this season, leading the league in both kills per set (4.52) and points per set (5.24) ahead of Concordia's first conference action this weekend. Nationally, Nold sits eighth in kills per set and fifth in points per set.

Sophomore transfer Kelsey Cooper has been CSP's most efficient attacker, leading the team and ranking sixth in the conference with a .411 hitting percentage while tallying 53 kills on the season.

Defensively, senior libero Cassie Sieling leads the team with 3.48 digs per set, 14^th most in the NSIC. Senior Ellie Sieling has been key on serve-receive for the Golden Bears, pacing the team and sitting eighth in the conference with 0.48 aces per set while also contributing 3.12 digs per set.

Sophomore transfer Reagan Hickey has paced the Golden Bear offense with an average of 8.16 assists per set, good for eighth most in the league. Redshirt freshman Audrey Waterman has also played significant time at setter, averaging 6.50 assists per set.
 
JAMESTOWN SERIES HISTORY
The newest addition to the now 16-member NSIC, the University of Jamestown made the jump from the NAIA to NCAA Division II ahead of the 2025 season.

The Golden Bears and Jimmies have met only once prior to this weekend, with Jamestown claiming a three-set win over Concordia at the Gangelhoff Center in the 1999 season when both schools were NAIA members.

SCOUTING THE JIMMIES
The Jimmies enter the weekend with a 5-2 record in non-conference play this season. Defense has been key for Jamestown's early success as it has held opponents to a .146 hitting percentage thus far, the third best mark in the NSIC. On offense, the Jimmies rank 13^th in the conference with a .199 hitting percentage and sit 12^th in the league with 12.80 kills per set.

Libero Momoka Minamiya has anchored the back line for UJ, ranking seventh in the conference with 4.12 digs per set this season. Addison Brooke has also been a key contributor on defense, sitting 12^th in the NSIC with 0.92 blocks per set for the Jimmies. Setter Lily Bertsch has paced the offense with 5.96 assists per set, 11^th most in the conference.

NORTHERN STATE SERIES HISTORY
This Saturday will mark the 51^st all-time meeting between the Golden Bears and the Wolves with Concordia holding a dominant record of 40-10 in the series.  

CSP enters the weekend riding a five-match winning streak against Northern State that dates back to 2022. NSU's last win over Concordia came on November 5, 2021, at the Gangelhoff Center. The Golden Bears have won eight of the previous 10 matchups in the series.

Northern State's longest win streak against CSP came in the first four meetings from 2000-2002 with the Wolves emerging victorious in each instance. Concordia's longest streak against NSU reached 27 consecutive wins stretching from Head Coach Brady Starkey's first season in 2003 all the way to 2015.  

SCOUTING THE WOLVES
The Wolves wrapped up their non-conference slate last weekend and now enter conference play with a perfect record of 8-0.

Northern State features a powerful offense paced by redshirt freshman setter Ava Nilsson. To this point in the season, Nilsson leads all of Division II with an average of 12.52 assists per set.

As a team, the Wolves rank ninth in the nation and fourth in the conference with an average of 14.57 kills per set. Sophomore Linnea Nesheim has led the charge with an average of 3.96 kills per set, good for fourth most in the conference. Senior Abby Brooks is just behind her with 3.68 kills per set so far. Brooks has also been key on defense, leading the conference individually with an average of 1.39 blocks per set.

Libero Abby Schauer leads NSU's back row with 5.43 digs per set, the second most in the NSIC.