CEDARVILLE, Ohio – The top-ranked Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (2-1) wrapped up play at the Cedarville Invitational on Saturday afternoon, defeating host Cedarville University (1-2) in straight sets at the Callan Athletic Center.
The Golden Bears claimed the first set 25-22 and dominated the second set 25-13 before completing the sweep with a 25-21 third-set win. It marked the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
Junior
Makenna Nold neared her second double-double of the season with an efficient performance, logging 17 kills on .406 hitting and adding eight digs, two aces, and two total blocks.
Sophomore
Kaelyn Snoozy finished second on the team with nine kills, seven digs, and three aces.
Julia Gordon and
Mehlayna Straub added eight kills each for CSP, with Gordon also tallying four blocks and four digs. Junior
Kelsey Cooper contributed seven kills and eight digs.
The offense was paced by the duo of
Reagan Hickey and
Audrey Waterman, with Hickey logging 24 assists and Waterman adding 21.
Defensively, sophomore
Josie Tingelhoff led the way with nine digs while sophomore transfer
Marta Leeland added eight.
As a team, Concordia hit .293 with 50 kills while limiting the Yellowjackets to a .175 hitting clip with 29 kills. CSP also held the edge in aces (5-3), assists (48-28), and digs (50-44).
The Golden Bears found themselves trailing for much of the opening set, as the Yellowjackets worked out to a 17-14 lead. It was all Concordia from there, however, with CSP claiming 11 of the next 16 points to win the set 25-22. Concordia carved out an early 7-1 lead in the second set and never looked back, cruising to a dominant 25-13 victory to go up 2-0 in the match. In the second frame, Concordia hit .310 as a team and limited Cedarville to .000 hitting.
Set three looked similar to its immediate predecessor early on as Concordia worked out to a 7-3 lead, but the Yellowjackets used a four-point run to get back in it shortly after. The teams traded jabs and each spent time with narrow leads throughout the middle of the set, culminating in a 19-19 tie late in the frame. The Golden Bears regained control the rest of the way, claiming six of the next eight points to escape with a 25-21 win and complete the sweep.
The Golden Bears will hit the road for another tough tournament next weekend when they head to Denver, Colorado, for the Colorado Premier Challenge co-hosted by Regis and defending national champion MSU Denver. The Golden Bears are set to take on Lewis (Ill.) (4-0) and Palm Beach Atlantic (Fla.) (3-0) on Friday before playing two matches in bracket play on Saturday.
