ST. PAUL, Minn. – The No. 13 Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (7-3, 3-0 NSIC) kept both its home and conference records perfect with a four-set win over NSIC foe Winona State (7-4, 2-1 NSIC) at the Gangelhoff Center on Tuesday evening.

Concordia opened strong with a 25-20 win in the first set, but Winona State responded with a 25-21 win of their own in set two to knot it back up. The Golden Bears managed a come-from-behind, 25-22 win in set three before emphatically slamming the door with a 25-14 win in the fourth set to win the match 3-1.

The match marked the 51st all-time meeting between the Golden Bears and Warriors with CSP now owning a 40-11 head-to-head advantage. Concordia has now claimed six consecutive victories over WSU in a streak that dates back to 2022.

At the heart of the win was Concordia's dominance at the net, where their 15 blocks, the 12th-most ever in a four-set match, dwarfed Winona State's six. The Bears' offense was also the more effective of the two, logging a .239 hitting percentage with 54 kills compared to WSU's 42 kills on .080 hitting.

The Golden Bears never trailed in the opening set, working out to an early 9-2 lead and eventually holding a 23-15 advantage. A run of five straight points by WSU brought the Warriors within three at 23-20, but back-to-back Concordia blocks sealed the set for the Bears.

The second set was a back-and-forth affair containing seven lead changes and 12 ties, with the Warriors outlasting CSP for a 25-21 win to even the match.

Concordia trailed for a majority of the third frame with Winona State clinging to a 20-17 lead late in the set before a run of eight Golden Bear points in the next 10 serves gave CSP the 25-22 win.

The Golden Bears dominated the fourth set, jumping out to a 10-3 lead on the way to a 25-14 victory to take the match 3-1. As a unit, the Bears hit .500 in the set with 16 kills while limiting the Warriors to a .100 hitting percentage with nine kills.

Senior libero Cassie Sieling had her strongest match of the season and one of the best in her career, collecting a season-high 29 digs to lead the CSP defense that allowed the Warriors to hit just .080 on the evening. Her 29 digs were the 12th most in CSP history in a four-set match. Senior Natalee Rolbiecki was also a key contributor on defense, adding 14 digs. 

Freshman Kaelyn Snoozy led the Golden Bear offense with 13 kills to match her career high while hitting .306 and adding three block assists.

Senior Ellie Sieling logged her second straight double-double and her fourth of the season, finishing with 12 digs and 12 kills on a .323 hitting percentage. Sophomore Makenna Nold also recorded a double-double with 12 kills, 12 digs, and eight total blocks, tied for the 18th most in a four-set match in school history.

At setter, sophomore Reagan Hickey joined the double-double club with 34 set assists and 14 digs in the match. Redshirt freshman Audrey Waterman also helped pace the offense for the Golden Bears, tallying 10 set assists.

In the middle, sophomore Kelsey Cooper finished with seven kills and seven block assists while junior Mehlayna Straub added nine kills and six total blocks.

For the Warriors, junior Kenna Kornely led the way on offense with 10 kills while senior Anna Hennessy anchored the defense with 23 digs.

The Golden Bears will now head west for their first taste of road NSIC action, taking on Minot State (1-10, 0-3 NSIC) on Friday evening and UMary (4-7, 1-2 NSIC) on Saturday afternoon.