ST. PAUL, Minn. – The No. 8 Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (14-4, 9-2 NSIC) will head back on the road this weekend for two matches in North Dakota. The Golden Bears are set to play at UMary (4-15, 2-9 NSIC) on Friday and at Minot State (4-16, 0-11 NSIC) on Saturday.

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 CONFERENCE MATCHES ONLINE - NSIC NETWORK
Starting with the 2026-27 season, Concordia and the NSIC will call Midco Sports Plus the streaming home for the NSIC Network. Midco Sports Plus, a regional cable provider primarily based in North Dakota, South Dakota, and parts of Minnesota, features an expanded variety of online sports coverage.
 
The NSIC Network will be part of a subscription service with annual access plans starting at under $7 per month for the full year ($79/year) or a monthly service for $15, which includes NSIC coverage as well as Summit League coverage.
 
Concordia's home broadcasts will continue to feature multiple cameras with instant replay, along with commentary from St. Paul-native Dan Flanagan, a graduate of Fordham University (N.Y.), where he covered multiple NCAA Division I sports teams on campus for the Rams, including football and basketball in the Patriot League. Flanagan has been the broadcast voice of the Golden Bears for nearly 20 years and called multiple national, regional, and conference championships.
 
For more information, view the NSIC's press release announcing the Midco Sports Plus partnership: https://cspbears.com/news/2026/7/16/athletics-midco-sports-launches-nsics-new-streaming-home.aspx
 
For streaming support and troubleshooting, visit Midco's support page: https://sports.midco.com/support

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 2026-27 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.

IN THE POLLS
Following a 2-0 week,  the Golden Bears rose one spot to No. 7 in the eighth American Volleyball Coaches Association Division II Poll of the season.

The Golden Bears collected 845 points in the poll. Undefeated Ferris State remains atop the poll with 1,173 points and 45 first-place votes, while NSIC foe Wayne State (Neb.) remained at No. 2 with 1,114 points.

The NSIC maintained five representatives in the poll, all of which sit in the top 17. Joining CSP and Wayne State from the NSIC are Southwest Minnesota State (#11, 646 points), St. Cloud State (#13, 577 points), and Minnesota Duluth (#17, 432 points).

Concordia has been a mainstay near the top of the poll for more than two decades, as it has ranked outside the top 10 for just eight weeks since 2003, never ranking below #15. The Golden Bears have ranked #1 at least once in 17 of the past 21 seasons. In total, CSP has spent an incredible 84 weeks as the top team in the country since debuting there in the 2004 preseason poll.

LAST TIME OUT
Last weekend, the Golden Bears went 2-0 in a pair of road matches with sweeps at MSU Moorhead and Minnesota Crookston.

In the win over MSU Moorhead, junior Kelsey Cooper had one of the strongest offensive matches of her career, setting a new career high for a three-set match with 15 kills on a match-leading .636 hitting percentage. Cooper also contributed three blocks and three digs.

Fellow junior Makenna Nold was just behind her, finishing with 13 kills on .435 hitting to go along with seven digs, three aces, and three blocks. Julia Gordon neared double figures with nine kills, and Mehlayna Straub added six kills.

Leading the team in digs were Kaelyn Snoozy, Marta Leeland, and Abby Rolbiecki, who each matched Nold with seven. Josie Tingelhoff was just behind them with six digs of her own.

The offense was paced by setter Audrey Waterman with 22 assists, while Reagan Hickey contributed 17 assists.

As a team, the Golden Bears hit .336 with 48 kills and limited the Dragons to just .120 hitting with 31 kills. Concordia also carved out distinct advantages in aces (6-1), blocks (9-2), and assists (45-28) to help secure the win.

In the win over Minnesota Crookston, senior Mehlayna Straub was nearly unstoppable for the Golden Bears, setting a new career high for a three-set match with 16 kills and no errors on 22 swings for a .727 hitting percentage. Straub also chipped in three total blocks to finish with a match-high 19.5 total points.

Junior Makenna Nold was the only other Golden Bear in double figures on offense, tallying 12 kills on .478 hitting and adding five digs and two blocks.

Defensively, freshman Abby Rolbiecki anchored the back row with 11 digs, while sophomore Josie Tingelhoff added seven, and sophomore Kaelyn Snoozy contributed six.

Setter Reagan Hickey tallied 19 assists and five digs, while Audrey Waterman added 15 assists and four digs.

As a unit, the Golden Bears hit .390 with 44 kills while Minnesota Crookston hit just .096 with 28 kills. Concordia also led in aces (5-2), blocks (7-4), and assists (39-26).

NOLD SECURES NSIC PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS
Following Concordia's 2-0 weekend, junior Makenna Nold earned NSIC Offensive Player of the Week honors for the second time this season. She was previously named NSIC Player of the Week on September 8 earlier this season.

Nold led the NSIC throughout the week with 5.50 points per set. She recorded 12 kills in the sweep of MSUM and had 12 kills in the win over Crookston, hitting .457 across the two matches.

STAT SHEET STANDOUTS
Junior Makenna Nold paces the NSIC and ranks 15th in Division II with 4.69 points per set. Nold also ranks third in the conference in kills per set (3.78) and sits sixth in aces per set (0.42) and 15^th in blocks per set (0.80).

Junior Mehlayna Straub leads the team and ranks fourth in the NSIC with a .383 hitting percentage. Senior Kelsey Cooper is just behind her with a .373 hitting percentage, fifth best in the conference.

At setter, Audrey Waterman ranks 13^th in the NSIC with 6.18 assists per set, while Reagan Hickey sits close behind with 6.03 assists per set, good for 14^th in the conference.

As a team, the Golden Bears rank third in the NSIC with 2.15 blocks per set. Concordia also ranks seventh in the conference in assists per set (13.06), seventh in kills per set (13.86), and eighth in digs per set (15.56).

UMARY SERIES HISTORY
The Golden Bears and Marauders have met 27 times in prior seasons, with Concordia holding a perfect record of 27-0 in the series. Of those 27 wins, 24 have been sweeps.

The teams met twice last season, with Concordia sweeping both matches.

SCOUTING THE MARAUDERS
The Marauders enter the week with an overall record of 4-15, including a mark of 2-9 in NSIC play.

On offense, UMary ranks 14^th in the NSIC in kills per set with an average of 10.85, while hitting .162 as a team, also good for 14^th in the conference. Defensively, UMary sits 16^th in the NSIC with 12.62 digs per set and ranks 12^th with 1.54 blocks per set.

Individually, setter Natalie Boehmer ranks eighth in the NSIC with 8.95 assists per set.
 
MINOT STATE SERIES HISTORY
The Golden Bears hold an all-time record of 17-0 against Minot State in a series that dates back to 2012. Concordia has only dropped two sets across the 17 wins, with 15 of the victories coming via sweeps.  

The teams played each other twice last season, with Concordia winning in straight sets both times.

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
Minot State enters the weekend with an overall record of 4-16, including a mark of 0-11 in NSIC play.

Defensively, the Beavers lead the NSIC in digs per set with an average of 17.63 this season. On offense, Minot State ranks 16^th in the conference in both kills per set (10.01) and hitting percentage (.104).

Minot State libero Maya Vibeto ranks second in the conference and 17^th in all of Division II with 5.17 digs per set.