Mankato, Minn. - The Minnesota State volleyball team fell to #4 Concordia-St. Paul in straight sets Tuesday night at Taylor Center. The Golden Bears defeated the Mavericks by scores of (26-24, 25-15, 25-15).

With the loss, the Mavericks overall record falls to 12-8 and 6-6 in NSIC play.

In the first frame of action CU took control early as it built a quick 8-4 lead over MSU. After  a Mavericks timeout, the Golden Bears kept building on their lead to 16-7 at one point. MSU wouldn't go away quietly though as the Mavericks went on an impressive 11-4 run to cut the Golden Bears lead down to two, 20-18. With momentum in their hands the Mavericks kept building off of it and eventually tied the set up at 24-24. However, CU answered right back with two straight points of its own to take the first set, 26-24.

Juniors Krista Hassing [Blue Earth, Minn.] and Sydney Geisness [St. Croix Falls, Wis.] each recorded four kills in the set, as Hassing posted a .429 attack percentage to go along with it.

In set two MSU began with an early 2-0 lead over CU before the Golden Bears rallied off seven straight points to take a comfortable 7-2 lead over the Mavericks. MSU would cut CU's lead to two, 10-8, before the Golden Bears took control in the rest of the set. The Golden Bears finished the second set with a 25-15 set two victory over the Mavericks.

In the set, CU posted a .256 attack percentage and four total team blocks, while MSU recorded just a .027 attack percentage and zero total team blocks.

In the third and final set it was more of the same as CU had built a 10-6 advantage over MSU. The Mavericks rallied for the next six points in the set, however, as they built a 12-10 lead over the Golden Bears. MSU kept building on its lead and held its biggest at six at one point, 17-11. From that point on, CU fought back again and went on 9-3 run to tie the set up at 20-20. After a MSU timeout, CU finished the set on a 5-1 run to close out the set and match at 25-21.

Hassing and junior Courtney Anderson [Tripoli, Iowa] each added three kills in the set, while Hassing also tallied three total blocks.

Overall, MSU finished with a .144 attack percentage in the loss and added three total team blocks, while CU posted a .279 attack percentage and collected eight total team blocks.

Hassing led the Mavericks offensive attack with 11 kills, while Geisness and Anderson each finished the match with seven kills of their own. Junior Lexi Platz [Lafayette, Minn.] contributed with six kills in the match, while freshman Autumn Risch [Howards Grove, Wis.] ended the match with 26 assists and five digs.

Junior Rissi McNallan [Andover, Minn.] led the Mavericks with 13 digs and two service aces, while junior Haley Fogarty [Belle Plaine, Minn.] posted nine digs to her stat line.  

The Mavericks will return to action on Friday as they will play host to #8 Minnesota Duluth. First serve is slated for 7:00 p.m.