ST. PAUL, Minn. – The No. 3 Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team is set for its second weekend of action with four matches at the Colorado Premier Challenge on Friday and Saturday. The Golden Bears will take on Lewis and Palm Beach Atlantic in group play on day one, then play two matches in bracket play on day two.

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.

COLORADO PREMIER CHALLENGE INFORMATION
The 2026 Colorado Premier Challenge will once again be co-hosted by Regis and MSU Denver in Denver, Colorado. Concordia's two matches on Friday will both be held on the campus of MSU Denver. Held annually (excluding 2020) since 1996, the tournament is considered among the most prestigious in all of Division II each season.

The 12-team field this year includes Regis, No. 7 MSU Denver, No. 14 Angelo State, Bentley, No. 5 Ferris State, Lewis, No. T-25 Central Missouri, Anderson, No. 2 Wayne State, Palm Beach Atlantic, and No. T-25 West Texas A&M.

Following the first two matches in group play on Friday, teams will be placed into one of three brackets for two more matches on Saturday: Gold, Silver, or Bronze.

CSP has posted a record of 63-17 in 16 appearances in the tournament. Concordia has claimed the tournament title eight times in prior seasons, most recently in 2023.

The tournament will be streamed live on the RMAC Network. Live streams on the RMAC network are $12.50 for a single match. If you plan on watching more than two matches, it is recommended to purchase the $25 monthly pass. This will give you access to all games streamed from Regis and MSU Denver (as well as all other RMAC streams for the month). Monthly subscriptions auto-renew until canceled.

For more information about the 2026 Colorado Premier Challenge, visit the tournament website here.

IN THE POLLS
Following a 2-1 weekend at the Cedarville Invitational, the Golden Bears dropped two spots to No. 3 in the 2nd American Volleyball Coaches Association Division II Poll of the season.

The Golden Bears collected 1029 points and nine first-place votes in the poll, coming in behind only NSIC foes St. Cloud State (No. 1, 1,107 points) and Wayne State (No. 2, 1,066 points).

Joining that NSIC trio in the rankings is Southwest Minnesota State, with the Mustangs coming in at No. 10 with 642 points. Both Minnesota Duluth and Minnesota State received votes in the poll.

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 opened their season with three matches at the Cedarville Invitational, defeating #23 Gannon in four sets and falling to #24 Missouri St. Louis in five sets on Friday before sweeping host Cedarville on Saturday.

In the first match of the tournament, CSP won the first two sets by scores of 25-19 and 25-23 before Gannon took the third set by a score of 25-22. The Golden Bears rebounded from there, taking the fourth set 25-22 to win the match in four sets.

Junior Kelsey Cooper proved to be Concordia's most efficient attack option in the match, hitting .500 with 11 kills on 22 swings while also adding seven digs, three block assists, and two aces.

Playing their second ranked opponent of the day in a match against #24 Missouri St. Louis, the Golden Bears fell in five sets in what was the first-ever meeting between the two programs.

Senior Mehlayna Straub led the way on offense for the Bears, tallying 14 kills and adding four block assists. Fellow senior Julia Gordon also turned in a strong performance, finishing with 12 kills.

In the win over Cedarville, 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.

STAT SHEET STANDOUTS
With one tournament in the books, junior Makenna Nold paces the NSIC and ranks 13^th in Division II with 4.83 points per set. Nold also ranks second in the conference in blocks per set (1.17), seventh in kills per set (3.50) and ninth in aces per set (0.58).
 
Junior Kelsey Cooper leads the team and ranks 16^th in the NSIC with a .381 hitting percentage. Cooper also sits fifth in the conference with 1.00 blocks per set.

As a team, the Golden Bears pace the NSIC and sit 24^th in Division II with 2.42 blocks per set. Concordia also ranks seventh in the conference in digs per set (15.58) and ninth in kills per set (13.17).

LEWIS SERIES HISTORY
The Golden Bears and Flyers have met a total of seven times in prior seasons, with Concordia winning all seven matchups.

The seven-match history includes five previous showdowns at the Colorado Premier Challenge, most recently in 2024. In that match, the Golden Bears downed the Flyers in straight sets.

SCOUTING THE FLYERS
The Flyers enter the tournament with a perfect 4-0 record following their trip to the D'Youville Invite last weekend.

On offense, Lewis averages 12.27 kills and 2.60 aces per set. Defensively, the Flyers tally 13.20 digs and 2.53 blocks per set on average.

Junior Marin Grossman leads the Flyers on offense with 3.13 kills per set, while junior Kynzie Lilly anchors the Lewis back row with 3.87 digs per set.
 
PALM BEACH ATLANTIC SERIES HISTORY
The Golden Bears have clashed with the Sailfish just once before, when the teams met in the first match of Concordia's 2015 season. In that match, the Sailfish stormed back from a 2-0 deficit to claim the match in five sets.  

SCOUTING THE SAILFISH
The Sailfish enter the weekend holding a record of 3-1 after playing four matches at the Shark Invite on the campus of Nova Southeastern.

Palm Beach Atlantic features a dynamic offense that averages 14.58 kills per set, second most in the SSC and 12^th most in Division II. The Sailfish also rank third in their conference in assists per set (13.17) and second in digs per set (16.08.)

Individually, freshman Ava McIntyre leads the way for PBA with 3.33 kills per set on a .352 hitting percentage. In the back row, junior Sofia Augusto paces the SSC with 5.33 digs per set.