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St. Paul, Minn.----The top-ranked and six-time defending national champion Golden Bears of Concordia-St. Paul defeated number 21 Wingate 3-0 in NCAA Division II volleyball action Sunday afternoon. Concordia won by scores of 25-9, 25-19 and 25-11 to improve to 4-1 overall. Wingate falls to 3-2 on the season. The Bulldogs picked up three wins at the highly competitive Concordia Tournament, including victories over ninth-ranked UIndy and 11th-ranked Colorado School of Mines.

Riley Hanson hit .722 with 14 kills to lead the Concordia attack. Erienne Lauersdorf added 12 kills with a .375 hitting percentage, while Heather Schiller registered 10 kills with a .409 hitting percentage. Kassey Williams handed out 46 assists, while Kayla Koenecke had seven kills and a match-high 17 digs.

Redshirt senior right-side hitter Anna Hilton (Hickory, N.C.) had nine kills and 10 digs to lead the Wingate attack. Junior middle blocker Lexi Potter (North Liberty, Iowa) and sophomore outside hitter Shelly Stumpff (Iowa City, Iowa) added four kills each. Redshirt junior setter Alison Cooke (Davidson, N.C.) handed out 23 assists, while junior libero Stephanie Tassone (Chicago, Ill.) collected 11 digs.

"Concordia played awesome today," head coach Shelton Collier says. "They played at a higher level of volleyball that our team has ever played against. We had to play nearly perfect to earn a point with them playing so well. Our hope is this match will help us develop into an Elite Eight level team, which is possible. Winning three huge matches this weekend was obviously our highlight."

The Golden Bears jumped out to a 10-2 lead in the opening set and never looked back. A pair of Schiller kills pushed the advantage to 16-3. Kills from junior outside hitter Susie Murach (Burke, Va.) and freshman middle blocker Abby Saehler (Iowa City, Iowa) made it 20-6. A Hanson kill put Concordia on top 24-8, while a Wingate error finished the opening set.

Kills from Potter and Cooke gave Wingate a 9-7 advantage in the second set. Concordia got kills from Schiller and Hanson to take a 12-11 lead, while another Schiller kill pushed the lead to two. Kills from Potter and Murach got Wingate back to within one at 16-15, but a kill and a block from Hanson helped the Golden Bears push the advantage to four. A Hilton kill and Concordia error made it 21-19, but the Golden Bears finished the set with a 4-0 run, taking a 2-0 lead in the match on a Wingate error.

A kill from Emily McDonough gave Concordia a 9-6 lead in the third set. A Hilton kill trimmed the lead to two, but the Golden Bears would use a 7-0 run to take an 18-9 lead. An ace from Koenecke made it 21-10. An ace from Lauersdorf made it 24-11, while a Wingate error finished the match.

Concordia hit .424 on the match, with 50 kills and just eight errors in 99 attacks. Wingate had 25 kills and 12 errors in 102 attacks, hitting .127.

The Bulldogs return to action Friday, opening the conference slate 7 p.m. against Newberry. Wingate will host Anderson Saturday at 5 p.m.