MARSHALL, Minn. – No. 12 Concordia-St. Paul took three-straight sets to stun No. 7 Southwest Minnesota State 22-25, 24-26, 25-19, 25-13, 15-12 in a come-from-behind win in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference volleyball on Saturday afternoon.

SMSU drops its second consecutive match to sit at 17-3, 8-3 NSIC. The Golden Bears move to 14-4 overall and 9-1 in NSIC play.

Three Mustangs reached double-figures in kills with Leah Jones and Saari Kuehl leading the way at 15 apiece. Jones added a pair of block assists and an ace while logging 16 digs on defense for a double-double. Kuehl grabbed a solo block and six digs. 

Emma VanHeel recorded 12 kills on .346 hitting and a pair of service aces on offense while jumping for a team-high six block assists and putting up five digs on defense. 

Sydney Thein supported the attack with 48 set assists and a pair of aces. Thein also recorded a pair of block assists and nine digs. McKenzie Tolk led the defense with a match-high 24 digs. Kennedy Drake chipped in 15 digs in addition.

Emma Schmidt led a ferocious CSP attack with a career-high 23 kills on an efficient .327 hitting percentage. Sophia Anderson followed with 17 kills and Mehlayna Straub added 13 kills. Teagan Starkey set 63 assists to support the offense while posting 15 digs.

The teams battled back-and-forth until a score of 12-11 in favor of CSP. The Golden Bears went on a 6-2 run backed by three kills from Emma Schmidt to lead by five going into the later parts of the first game. The SMSU offense bounced back to score the next four points thanks to a pair of VanHeel kills and closed the gap to a point at 18-17. 

CSP took three of the next five points to lead 21-19 until the SMSU offense once again revived, with Kuehl and Thein striking kills to fuel the fire. A pair of blocks and an ace brought SMSU to match point and a CSP hitting error sealed the win.

CSP climbed to a 7-2 lead to start set two but SMSU was eager to keep control, pursuing a 7-1 run led by Jones and VanHeel to take back the lead at 9-8. CSP turned the tables and went on a 9-1 run of its own to again take a commanding lead at 17-11. 

Ashley Peltier rained down three consecutive kills to help the Mustangs climb back to tie game at 20-20. CSP moved quickly to reach match point at 24-22, but the Mustangs refused to give up, using a pair of kills from Kuehl to score four-straight points for the second set win.

SMSU moved to a 7-3 lead early in the third game until CSP fought back to trail by one. The next 14 points would be evenly split to lead to an SMSU lead at 14-13 before CSP again went on a run to score 10 of the next 13 points to take a commanding 23-17 lead, and never looked back in taking set three.

CSP rode the wave of momentum to lead 10-3 straight away in game four. The Golden Bears did not let up at all, cruising to a 20-8 margin in quick fashion. SMSU scored the next four points to close the gap to eight, but it would prove to be not enough, as CSP would take the set 25-13.

The Golden Bears used a 4-2 to start the fifth set to reach the halfway mark first before switching sides. CSP scored the first three points after switching, but SMSU was not out of it yet, grabbing the next four points to close the margin to two points. The Mustangs battled hard but the effort was too little. CSP won 15-12.

SMSU returns to the floor on Wednesday, Oct. 25, with a midweek match at Wayne State (16-3, 10-1 NSIC).