ST. PAUL, Minn. – The 13^th-ranked Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team is set to open the 2025 campaign this weekend as they head to Indianapolis, Ind. for the UIndy Invitational.
 
UNIVERSITY OF INDIANAPOLIS INVITATIONAL INFORMATION
The Golden Bears will make their first of two early season trips as they head to Indianapolis, Indiana for three matches at the UIndy Invitational on Friday and Saturday.
 
On Friday, Concordia will open the season taking on host UIndy at 4:30 p.m. The two schools have faced off twice in prior seasons, with CSP claiming three-set wins in both 2009 and 2013.
 
CSP will wrap up play in Indiana on Saturday with matches against West Virginia State at 11 a.m. and Tiffin (Ohio) at 4:30 p.m. It will be the Golden Bears' first ever meeting with both teams on Saturday.
 
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 their free passes through Vivenu.
 
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
 
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.
 
2024 SEASON REVIEW
Last season, Concordia reached the NCAA Central Region semifinals after making its 22^nd consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance under Head Coach Brady Starkey.

The Golden Bears finished the year with an overall record of 24-7 with a 16-2 mark in conference play.

CSP had two players named AVCA All-Americans with Teagan Starkey named to the first team and Emma Schmidt named to the third team.
 
FALL CAMP UPDATE
With two AVCA All-Americans and four All-NSIC selections graduating last season, the 2025 Golden Bear lineup is set to feature a healthy mix of both fresh and returning faces.

"It's been fun. The energy in the gym has been different, but good different," said Starkey when asked about his team's dynamic in practice so far. "There has been a lot more focus on skill training and getting the new kids up to speed with what we do and how we want to do things."
 
Looking at the makeup of this season's roster, Starkey added, "We bring back most of our ball control and defense from last season, so I think those areas will be two of our greatest strengths this year. Offensively, there is a lot of potential there. It's just a matter of how long will it take them to fully gel at the rate that they are going to need to in order for us to be successful in our conference this year."
 
NON-CONFERENCE SLATE
Following their trip to the UIndy Invitational this weekend, the Golden Bears will journey to Colorado for the Colorado Premier Challenge the following weekend.

As with previous years, the Colorado Premier Challenge is set to feature some of the nation's top programs with Concordia slated to take on Missouri Western State and #2 Angelo State on day one before playing two more matches in bracket play on day two.
 
When asked about his team's seven-match non-conference slate to open the season, Starkey said, "I think it's a good, challenging schedule that's appropriate for our season. I don't know a ton about some of the teams we play the first weekend because we really haven't played them before, but it will be a good chance for us to get out there and compete to see where we stand."

Talking about the Colorado Premier Challenge, Starkey added, "We're going to be playing a bunch of nationally ranked teams as we do in most seasons at that tournament, so it should give us a good idea where we are right now and where we want to be as the season goes on."
 
NSIC AT A GLANCE
Playing in the ever-competitive NSIC, Concordia's conference schedule will afford the Golden Bears little respite from the tough non-conference slate. In total, five NSIC squads were featured in the AVCA Division II Preseason Poll with St. Cloud State (#3, 1,005 points), Concordia-St. Paul (#13, 632 points), Southwest Minnesota State (#15, 486 points), Wayne State (#21, 266 points) and Northern State (#25, 100 points) each representing the league in the rankings.

In the NSIC Coaches Poll, the Golden Bears were picked to finish second behind only defending champion St. Cloud State.

"It's going to be a lot of the same with a lot of tough teams and a lot of parity. There are going to be many matches that could go either way on a given night depending on who is playing hot," said Starkey when asked about the quality of the conference.

The NSIC regular season champion will be determined by the 20-match conference schedule. The 2025 NSIC Volleyball Tournament shall be an eight-team tournament with the quarterfinals hosted at the top four seeds on Tuesday, November 18 and the semifinals/championship matches hosted at the highest remaining seed. The semifinals/championship matches will take place on two consecutive days between Friday and Sunday, November 21-23 with the dates of competition determined by the host institution.
 
MEET THE GOLDEN BEARS
The 2025 roster features a healthy mix of fresh faces and returning impact players, with six returners and seven newcomers on the squad.  

At libero, the Golden Bears return both senior Cassie Sieling, an All-NSIC Second Team selection in 2024, and senior Natalee Rolbiecki while adding freshman Josie Tingelhoff to the mix.

"That's probably one of our strongest groups," said Starkey of his defensive specialists. "Returning both Cassie and Natalee is big for us. They are both very talented. Josie is going to be very good. Her defense is already at a very high level, especially for someone just coming out of high school."

Last season, Sieling was named to the All-NSIC Second team after leading the team and ranking 14^th in the conference with 4.84 digs per set in league play. She reached double figures in 15 of 16 conference matches, including a 32-dig effort in a match against Wayne State. Rolbiecki appeared in all 31 matches for CSP last year, tallying 176 digs and 12 set assists.

With First Team All-American setter Teagan Starkey graduating after last season, the 2025 offense will be paced by the duo of sophomore transfer Regan Hickey and redshirt freshman Audrey Waterman at the setter position.

"They're both doing a great job in practice," said Starkey when asked about his setters. "We're still in the feeling out process as far as who will take that role or if it will be a dual role. They both have a lot of strengths as well as some things to work on to solidify that position, but I like where we're at with those two."

On the outside, Concordia will lean heavily on reigning NSIC Freshman of the Year Makenna Nold who was largely featured on the right side last season. Senior Ellie Sieling and freshman Kaelyn Snoozy will also look to mix in on both the outside and right side for the Golden Bears.

Nold secured an All-Conference First Team selection after a breakout freshman campaign that saw her finish with an average of 3.48 points per set for CSP. Sieling provides CSP with versatility after tallying 345 digs and 145 kills a season ago.

"Makenna is probably going to get a lot more swings this year and we'll rely a little bit heavier on her compared to last year," said Starkey. "Moving her to the outside, she is going to garner a lot more attention as the focal point of our offense."

Speaking about Ellie Sieling, Starkey stated, "She's a good hitter, but her strengths lie in her all-around game with serve-receive and passing. She fills a great void left by Emma (Schmidt) as a reliable six-rotation player for us."

"Kaelyn is really similar to the other two in that group," added Starkey. "She's crafty, she has good ball control skills. She is a very intelligent hitter."

In the middle while mixing in on the right side, Concordia returns junior Mehlayna Straub while adding in freshmen Olivia Stier and Annika Swenson, sophomore transfer Kelsey Cooper, and junior transfer Julia Gordon.

"Mehlayna will be someone that we rely on to take a lot of swings for us this season," noted Starkey. "We are still ironing out who will hit right side for us and whether or not it will be by committee with Mehlayna on some days and Kelsey mixing in on other days."

"Julia also brings some experience there, having played two years of college volleyball. She is really dynamic off one foot, so she will be a good addition this year that brings a dynamic we didn't necessarily have last year," added Starkey.

"Coming in as a freshman, Olivia's blocking has been some of the best on the team so far this season," said Starkey.

"Annika will be redshirting for us this season due to injury. It's unfortunate, because she is a dynamic player that we had positioned for the right side coming in as a freshman because she is just that talented."

Check back to cspbears.com throughout the season for match previews and recaps along with schedules, statistics and more.