By: by Patrick Rydeen

Tournament Website

ST. PAUL, Minn. – The top-seeded #1 Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (25-4) advances to the NSIC Tournament semifinals with a five set win over eighth-seeded Minnesota State (16-13) on Wednesday night. The Golden Bears will face fifth-seeded #7 Minnesota Duluth on Saturday afternoon at the Gangelhoff Center.
 
CSP improves to 8-0 all-time in NSIC Tournament quarterfinal matches and 16-4 overall in the tournament. They also moved to 23-4 in the all-time series against Minnesota State with the win. The Golden Bears, the top seed in the tournament, will host the semifinals and the championship at the Gangelhoff Center. Concordia will continue their search for their fourth NSIC tournament title at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday against the Bulldogs.
 
Concordia fought back from down 2-1 in the match to claim the final two sets and pull out a dramatic win. CSP managed to hit .296 for the match, including marks of over .312 or better in the three sets they won, compared to .244 for MSU. A big factor came in serving as the Mavericks had 13 service errors compared to five for the Golden Bears.
 
CSP had three players surpass the 15 kill mark as Anna Pioske and Emma Lange had 16 kills each while Riley Hanson registered in at 15 kills. Pioske set a new career high with her 16 kills as she also chipped in eight digs. Lange and Hanson each added four blocks as well.
 
Kasey Williams had a big statistical night as she contributed 53 assists and 14 digs while Anna Schlaak also chipped in a double-double with 10 kills and 15 digs. Taylor Dordan paced all players in the match with 23 digs.
 
Krista Hassing put down 21 kills to lead all players for MSU while Ellie Van De Steeg was active from the setter position with 52 assists, seven digs and five kills for the Mavericks.
 
The Golden Bears got off to a torrid start as they took the first six points and 10 of the first 11 to quickly build a nine point advantage. The lead wouldn't shrink below seven the rest of the first set as CSP cruised to a 1-0 lead in the match. Concordia led by as many as 10 on quite a few different occasions in the set before finishing it off 25-17.
 
The momentum shifted in favor of the Mavericks in the second set as they emerged from an early 5-5 tie to take a 10-6 lead with a 5-1 run. They continued to maintain a comfortable advantage for much of the set as they turned away every CSP comeback bid. The closest that the Golden Bears would get was four as MSU built a lead as large as seven before evening the match with a 25-19 set win in the second.
 
The Mavericks carried that momentum into the third set as they took six of the first nine points to jump out to a three point lead. This time the Golden Bears responded with a run of their own with nine of the next 12 points to go up 12-9. They held that lead until late in the set as they held onto a slight advantage. CSP's advantage never rose larger than three before Minnesota State eventually pulled even at 22-22 and again at 23-23 before MSU regained the lead at 24-23 to force a set point. The Golden Bears survived the first set point but couldn't survive another as the Mavericks took the third set and a 2-1 lead in the match with a 26-24 win.
 
Concordia responded in a big way in the fourth set as they ran out to a 9-4 lead to set the tone. The Golden Bears pushed their lead to seven at 15-8 and continued to hold a lead of four or more the rest of the set en route to forcing a deciding fifth set. After MSU pulled back within four at 20-16, CSP took care of business with five of the final seven points to win the set 25-18.
 
It looked like the Golden Bears were in serious trouble in the fifth as MSU built a 7-4 lead and looked to be in control of play before CSP battled back with three in a row in their favor to tie it. A big 5-1 run just a few points later put the Golden Bears in prime position to close out the win with a 13-10 lead. Minnesota State turned up the heat with the next two points and remained within one at 14-13 before a block from Hanson and Schlaak closed out the dramatic win for the Golden Bears.