Concordia St. Paul's volleyball team makes return to Elite 8

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Concordia St. Paul's volleyball team is the most accomplished program in all of Division 2.

This week they make their return to the Elite 8 after a four-year absence.

"None of us have won a national championship," said setter Teagan Starkey. "So there's no pressure on us really. We just gotta show up to play. We honestly have nothing to lose."

Do not be fooled, being three wins away from a national championship is a familiar spot for Golden Bears volleyball. They've won a record nine NCAA D2 titles – all in the past 16 years.

"I don't look at it like that. Especially knowing that it's not on just one person," said junior outside hitter and former All-American Jasmine Mulvihill. "Especially knowing that the person next to me is just as good and we can all play and just flow together."

Concordia St. Paul engineered a reverse sweep to beat St. Cloud State and make it out of the region championship for the first time since 2017. That was the last time they won it all.

"We take a lot of pride in being from Concordia and being from such an amazing program," said senior middle blocker Kennedy Brady. "Our coaches are outstanding. And so it's like almost as if like we bought in to finally what they've been selling us. Because they know how to do it and finally we bought in enough to get us there."

This year's run is a bit different for head coach Brady Starkey. His daughter is the Bears' setter. She leads the country in assists per set.

"Watching them win so many national championships, that's always been a dream, like an end goal," said Teagan, a sophomore. "It's really crazy to me like I was just watching like as a little kid like back in the day. Now … having the opportunity to like potentially get there is insane to me."

Concordia plays Southern New Hampshire in Seattle in the quarterfinals on Thursday. The semi finals are Friday with the title match scheduled for Saturday.

"That's every athlete's dream is to win at the highest level you can," said Brady. "So I think we all have a lot of desire to do so and it would feel absolutely amazing."

The last time CSP advanced this far and didn't take the trophy was 2005. It bodes well for title number 10 this week.