The University of Minnesota Duluth Volleyball Team (18-9, 11-9 NSIC) will face No. 5 Concordia-St. Paul (24-4, 19-1 NSIC) in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) Postseason Volleyball Tournament quarterfinals Tuesday, Nov. 18. The opening-round contest is set to get underway at 6 p.m. from the Gangelhoff Center in St. Paul, Minn.

Match Information
NSIC Volleyball Tournament Quarterfinals
#8 seed UMD at #1 seed Concordia-St. Paul
Gangelhoff Center - St. Paul, Minn. 
6:00 p.m. 
Live Stream: https://www.nsicnetwork.com/
Live Stats: https://cspbears.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary
Tickets: Adults: $15 || Students: $5 || Age 5 & under: free
NSIC Tournament Website: https://northernsun.org/tournaments/?id=132&path=wvball

MAKING THE TOURNAMENT: UMD earned the No. 8 seed in the NSIC Tournament with a split in its final league series last weekend at home vs. Winona State and then-No. 6 Concordia-St. Paul. The Bulldogs defeated the Warriors in straight sets behind a 14-kill night from junior Madeline Guetzkow Friday, but fell in a five-set heartbreaker to the Golden Bears Saturday afternoon despite getting a combined 40 kills from junior Paige Decker and senior Kylie Broten. Following the weekend, UMD sat in a three-way tie with Northern State (11-9) and Winona State (11-9) for seventh place in league standings. Northern State earned the seventh seed and UMD the eighth seed via strength of schedule. 

AGAINST CONCORDIA-ST. PAUL: Just three days after facing the Golden Bears to close out the regular-season, the Bulldogs will have another shot at fifth-ranked Concordia-St. Paul in the opening round of the NSIC Tournament. In Saturday's five-set thriller at Romano Gymnasium, Paige Decker led all players with a career-high 21 kills on .500 hitting, while Kylie Broten closed out her career at Romano Gym with 19 kills on .444 hitting and matched her career-high with three solo blocks. Xada Johnson contributed 10 kills and Brietta Tims added six kills, 13 digs and two service aces. Ava Jones had 50 assists, eight digs and two service aces to help the Bulldogs notch a .244 team hitting percentage, their highest mark since Oct. 21 at Bemidji State. UMD trails CSP in the all-time series, 28-36, and has lost 11-straight matches to the Golden Bears. Its last win was on Sept. 8, 2019 in Duluth, Minn. 

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN BEARS: The Golden Bears rank No. 5 in the latest AVCA Top-25 Poll, and enter the tournament having won 13-straight matches dating back to Oct. 11 vs. Sioux Falls. Of its 24 wins this season, 19 have come in straight sets. The Golden Bears are 11-0 when playing on their home court. CSP and Wayne State shared the 2025 NSIC Regular Season Championship, with the Golden Bears earning the No. 1 seed for the tournament via their strength of schedule. They currently lead the league in points per set (19.00), kills per set (14.86), hitting percentage (.301) and assists per set (13.86). Makenna Nold leads the team and the league in kills with 4.31 per set and points with 5.23 per set. Cassie Sieling boasts a team-high 4.15 digs per set average.

LOOKING AHEAD: A win at Concordia-St. Paul would send UMD to the semifinal round of the NSIC Tournament, hosted by the highest-remaining seed following Tuesday's matches. The semifinals/championship matches will take place on two-consecutive days between Friday-Sunday with the dates determined by the host institution. Match times will be determined by the host institution in consultation with the conference office. The winner of the conference tournament is the NSIC Volleyball Tournament Champion and is the recipient of the automatic qualifier into the NCAA Tournament.