Box Score MINOT, N.D. – The Minot State University volleyball team fell to five-time defending national champion Concordia University-St. Paul in Northern Sun play Friday night in the MSU Dome.

The more experienced Golden Bear team showed why they are ranked No. 6 in NCAA Division II, with a clean sweep over the unproven Beavers 25-12, 25-18, 25-12.

From the start, Concordia-St. Paul (14-3 overall 8-2 NSIC) showed its dominance jumping out to a 17-10 lead in set one. Middle hitter Cassie Haag and outside hitter Ellie Duffy led CU in set one with four kills each. Haag ended the match leading CU in kills with 12 overall.

In set two, Minot State (4-16 overall 0-10 NSIC) did some positive things as they were able to hang with the Golden Bears through the middle of the set, as they were only down 13-14. CU then rattled off four straight points to put it out of reach as they headed into intermission with a 2-0 lead.

“I thought in the second set we did some good things against a great team,” said MISU head coach Travis Ward. “We were able to stay in system more often and it showed early in the set. We played scrappy that is something I want to see us do on a regular basis.”

The third set was more of the same, as Concordia's first visit to the Magic City ended with a Golden Bear sweep.

The Beavers had a trio of players leading in kills as Shari Hewson (Sr., MH, New England, N.D.), Mallory Sall (Fr., OH, Port Coquitlam, British Columbia), and Tarah Dabovich (Fr., MH, Phoenix, Ariz.) all had six kills apiece. Dabovich played a very efficient game with a hitting percentage of .667 overall.

“Tarah did a great job capitalizing on her opportunities tonight,” said Ward. “Again, we were able to stay in system tonight and that allowed her to exploit some holes in their defense. It's fun to see our freshman step up to a challenge like they did tonight.”

Setter Emily Byrne (So., Reno, Nev.) dished out 23 assists while also totaling seven digs in the loss.

MISU will look to snap their five-match losing streak Saturday evening as they host No. 13 Minnesota State University at 5 p.m. in the Dome.