ST. PAUL, Minn. – The No. 5 Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (7-2, 2-0 NSIC) will play its first road matches in conference play this weekend as they head southwest for bouts at Augustana (S.D.) (7-3, 1-1 NSIC) and No. 2 Wayne State (Neb.) (9-1, 2-0 NSIC) on Friday and 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
After opening conference play with a 2-0 weekend at the Gangelhoff Center,  the Golden Bears remained at No. 5 in the fourth American Volleyball Coaches Association Division II Poll of the season.

The Golden Bears collected 974 points in the poll, coming in behind only Ferris State (1,170 points), NSIC foe Wayne State (1,105 points), Tampa (1,068 points), and Fresno Pacific (981 points).

The NSIC has five representatives in the poll, with St. Cloud State (#10), Southwest Minnesota State (#14), and Minnesota Duluth (#23) joining CSP and Wayne State.

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.

NSIC SPOTLIGHT
Concordia's Makenna Nold was featured on the third NSIC Spotlight of the season this week. The NSIC Spotlight continues to be "The Voice of the NSIC Student-Athlete" as the video is distributed to fans via social media outlets (YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram), with an audio only format still available via podcast. To watch this week's Spotlight on YouTube, click here.

MILESTONE WATCH
In last Saturday's win over Sioux Falls, Concordia junior Makenna Nold became the 25^th student-athlete in program history to join the 1,000-kill club. Nold now has 1,001 kills in just 76 matches played at CSP.

Head Coach Brady Starkey is also approaching a major milestone, as he currently holds a 697-99 record at Concordia. Starkey, who leads all DII head coaches with an .876 winning percentage (minimum five seasons), would be just the 28th coach in Division II volleyball history to reach 700 wins.

LAST TIME OUT
Last weekend, the Golden Bears opened Northern Sun play with wins over #12 Southwest Minnesota State and Sioux Falls (S.D.) at the Gangelhoff Center.

In the win over SMSU, Concordia came out hot in the first two sets, winning by scores of 25-17 and 25-21. The Mustangs got one back with a 25-22 win in the third, but CSP hung on for a 25-23 win in the fourth to take the match.

Makena Nold logged her second consecutive double-double, finishing with 19 kills, 14 digs, and three block assists. Nold now has 990 kills in her collegiate career and needs just 10 more to become the 25^th member of the 1,000-kill club at Concordia.

Senior Julia Gordon set a new season high with 13 kills for the Bears, also adding six digs. Kelsey Cooper joined Gordon with 13 digs on a team-high .444 hitting, also contributing five total blocks and a pair of digs.

Sophomore Kaelyn Snoozy registered her second double-double of the season, tallying 11 kills and a career-high 17 digs.

At libero, sophomore Josie Tingelhoff finished with 10 digs, while sophomore Marta Leeland added nine.

Pacing the offense was the setter duo of Reagan Hickey, who tallied 28 assists and four digs, and Audrey Waterman, who added 25 assists, eight digs, and a block assist.

In the win over USF, Senior Mehlayna Straub was nearly unstoppable on the attack, logging a match-high 14 kills with no errors on 20 swings for a .700 hitting percentage. Junior Kelsey Cooper was just behind her with 13 kills, four digs, and four block assists. Julia Gordon also finished in double figures with 10 kills.

Makenna Nold reached the 1,000-kill threshold in the match, logging her fifth double-double of the season with 11 kills, 15 digs, four aces, and four blocks.

Defensively, sophomore Kaelyn Snoozy led the way with 18 digs, setting a new career high for the second straight match. Libero Josie Tingelhoff finished with 11 digs, and freshman Abby Rolbiecki added nine.

At setter, junior Audrey Waterman led the way with 29 assists, while fellow junior Reagan Hickey added 19 assists.

Collectively, the Golden Bears hit .228 with 55 kills in the match while limiting the Cougars to a .104 hitting percentage with 39 kills. CSP also led in aces (11-5), blocks (6-3), assists (51-36), and digs (65-61).

STAT SHEET STANDOUTS
Junior Makenna Nold paces the NSIC and ranks eighth in Division II with 4.83 points per set. Nold also ranks second in the conference in kills per set (3.83) and sits fifth in aces per set (0.51) and 13^th in blocks per set (0.83).
 
Junior Kelsey Cooper leads the team and ranks ninth in the NSIC with a .377 hitting percentage. Cooper also sits 10^th in the conference with 0.86 blocks per set.

At setter, Audrey Waterman ranks 11^th in the NSIC with 6.69 assists per set, while Reagan Hickey sits close behind with 6.16 assists per set, good for 13^th in the conference.

As a team, the Golden Bears rank third in the NSIC with 2.03 blocks per set. Concordia also ranks sixth in the conference in assists per set (13.40), fifth in kills per set (14.26), and ninth in digs per set (15.03).

AUGUSTANA SERIES HISTORY
The Golden Bears and Vikings have met 34 times in prior seasons, with CSP holding a dominant 32-2 edge in the series. When playing on the road, Concordia holds a 13-0 record against Augustana.  

Concordia has claimed the last five matchups, with Augustana's lone modern-era win over the Golden Bears coming on November 18, 2021. When the teams met last season, the Golden Bears defeated the Vikings in straight sets.

SCOUTING THE VIKINGS
Augustana enters the weekend holding an overall record of 7-3, including a 1-1 mark in conference play. Playing on the road last weekend, AU was swept at St. Cloud State before defeating Minnesota State in four sets. The Vikings feature a potent offense, currently ranking third in the NSIC and fifth in Division II with 14.60 kills per set. AU also sits third in the conference and fourth in the nation with 13.91 assists per set. On defense, Augustana ranks seventh in the conference with 1.87 blocks per set and sits sixth with 16.14 digs per set.

Individually, the AU offense is led by senior Reagan Jansen with 3.34 kills per set, ninth most in the NSIC. Jansen also paces the team with 3.11 digs per set.
 
WAYNE STATE SERIES HISTORY
In a series spanning 27 years and 58 meetings, the Golden Bears hold an all-time record of 39-19 against the Wildcats. When playing in Wayne, Neb., the Golden Bears have gone 15-5.

Concordia has had the edge in recent seasons, winning three straight against WSC dating back to 2024. In their lone meeting last season, Concordia secured a sweep of the Wildcats at the Gangelhoff Center on October 4.

SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
Ranked second in the most recent AVCA coaches poll, the Wildcats enter the weekend with a record of 10-1, including a mark of 2-0 in NSIC play. The lone blemish in the schedule so far for WSC was a three-set loss to then No. 5 Ferris State on September 5.

On offense, Wayne State ranks 10^th in the NSIC with 13.17 kills per set and sits second in the NSIC and sixth in all of Division II with a .314 team hitting percentage. Defensively, the Wildcats rank fourth in the conference in blocks per set (2.00) and eighth in digs per set (15.06).

The offense is led by sophomore Delaney Miller with 3.37 kills per set. Pacing the offense is setter Molly Romano, who ranks fifth in the NSIC with 10.0 assists per set. On defense, libero Anna Borner leads the way with 3.64 digs per set.