SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The No. 5 Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (8-2, 3-0 NSIC) dug deep in its first conference road match of the season on Friday evening, claiming a reverse sweep over Augustana (7-4, 1-2 NSIC) at the Elmen Center.
Junior
Makenna Nold led the way with 16 kills, 11 digs, three blocks, and two aces for her sixth double-double of the season.
Senior
Mehlayna Straub set a new career high with nine total blocks in the match, including three solo blocks. Straub also contributed 15 kills and three digs in the win.
Sophomore
Kaelyn Snoozy collected the third double-double of her career, tallying 15 digs, five blocks, and 14 kills on a.314 hitting percentage.
Kelsey Cooper also finished in double figures with 11 kills, four blocks, and five digs while hitting a match-high .391.
Defensively, sophomore
Josie Tingelhoff tied for the team high with 15 digs while freshman
Abby Rolbiecki added 11. At setter,
Audrey Waterman finished with 28 assists, five digs, and two kills, while
Reagan Hickey added 26 assists and seven digs.
For the match, the Golden Bears hit .201 with 65 kills while the Vikings hit .146 with 62 kills. Concordia also dominated defensively at the net, boasting a 16-9 blocking advantage in the match.
The teams traded time with narrow leads throughout most of the opening set, but it was Augustana breaking an 18-18 tie with a five-point run to take a late lead on the way to a 25-19 set win.
Set two remained close throughout, with the teams eventually playing to a 23-23 tie. Concordia held a set point opportunity at 24-23 following an Augie attack error, but the Vikings battled back to force extra points and went on to escape with a 27-25 win.
The Vikings looked to be in control once again with a 14-9 lead early in set three, but Concordia rallied with an eight-point run on the serve of Rolbiecki to take a 17-14 advantage. The Golden Bears maintained the lead through the remainder of the set, going on to claim a 25-19 set win.
Tied at 18-18 in the fourth set, Concordia used a pair of kills by Straub and an Augie attack error to take a 21-18 lead. That proved to be the final lead change in the set, with Concordia going on to win 25-20 to send the match to a decisive fifth set.
Late in the fifth, Concordia held its first match-point opportunity at 14-12, but the Vikings claimed the next two points to tie it up at 14 each. In the end, it took seven match-point chances for the Golden Bears before they escaped with a 20-18 win to complete the comeback. CSP had its best offensive frame of the night in the fifth, hitting .400 with 14 kills against just 14 errors on 25 swings.
The win marked Concordia's sixth straight over Augustana, moving the all-time series to 33-2 in favor of the Golden Bears.
The Golden Bears will wrap up their weekend road trip on Saturday with a marquee matchup at No. 2 Wayne State (Neb.) (11-1, 3-0 NSIC) at 1 p.m.
