ST. PAUL — In a battle of a pair of Top 10 teams, No. 7 Concordia-St. Paul earned a hard-fought 3-1 victory over No. 9 Southwest Minnesota State on Friday night at the Gangelhoff Center in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference volleyball.

SMSU dropped its second straight match is now 11-4 overall, 5-2 NSIC, while CSP improves to 11-4 overall, 5-2 NSIC. CSP won by scores of 25-23, 22-25, 25-21, 25-23. The match was tied 40 times and 14 lead changes.

It’s the second victory for the Golden Bears over the Mustangs this season following a 3-1 win in the championship match of the Colorado Premier Tournament last month.

On Friday night, CSP finished the night hitting .309 with 64 kills on 152 attacks and also recorded nine blocks. SMSU closed the match with a .275 hitting percentage on 138 attacks with 57 kills.

Angela Young led the Mustangs with a team-high 21 kills while hitting .356 and adding 11 digs for a double-double. Meg Schmidt added 17 kills and closed the match hitting .345.

Payton Hjerleid racked up a match-high 19 digs with teammate Alisa Bengen chipped in with 13 digs.

The first set was tied at 22 before a pair of CSP kills and a hitting error by SMSU sealed the victory for the Golden Bears.

SMSU rallied in set two building a 14-10 advantage before CSP answered back to take a 15-14 lead. A kill and a service ace by Young put SMSU back in front 16-15 before the teams would trade points until SMSU was able to pull away. With the set tied at 20, a service error by CSP followed by a kill from Young would put the Mustangs ahead for good at 22-20. SMSU would maintain a 23-23 advantage before CSP committed a service error and a hitting error to give the Mustangs a set two victory.

SMSU would hold a 16-15 lead in set three only to see CSP rally with a 6-2 run to build a 21-18 edge. The Mustangs would cut the deficit to 21-20, but a pair of kills and a service ace would help the Golden Bears pick up the set three victory at 25-21.

Set four was also a tight affair as a Lexi Ferrell kill gave SMSU a 15-13 advantage. It was Ferrell’s first action in 2019.

CSP answered with a 5-0 run before SMSU countered with three straight points to tie the set at 18-18. The Golden Bears answered in a big way scoring two straight points to take a 21-19 advantage and never trailed again in holding on for the 25-23 victory.

Southwest Minnesota State concludes the weekend on Saturday with a 2 p.m. match at Minnesota State.

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courtesy of

SMSU Athletic

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