Not The Way It Was Supposed To End

MOORHEAD, Minn.  (11/13/11)--Concordia never got on track on offense and lost 25-18, 25-19, 25-19 to St. Thomas in the Region Championship of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday in Moorhead.

The loss abruptly snaps the Cobbers’ 15-match win streak in 2011 and their 21-match home winning stretch as well. Concordia had beaten the Tommies twice at home earlier in the season but were unable to find consistency at the net and lost in the region championship for the second time in four years.

Concordia was never able to get into their system from the very first point and would only hit .072 for the match. It is the first time all season that the Cobbers finished with an attack percentage below .100. While the Cobbers struggled on offense, St. Thomas was finishing off every chance they got at the net. The Tommies set the tone in the opening set, recording a .278 attack percentage and coming away with 14 kills. Freshman Kelly Foley was a handful at the net all match long and had five of her match-high 14 winners in the opening set alone.

The Cobbers tried to rebound in the second set but a 7-2 run midway through the set put UST in control of the set and the match. CC was only able to hit .043 in the second set and had only four kills after the score was tied at 10-10.

St. Thomas (32-4) jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the third set, stopping Concordia’s hopes at a quick start and the chance to get back in the match. The Tommies then built the lead to 13-5 before CC closed the gap to 16-13. Kills by Kelly Greenfield and Paige Brimeyer helped give UST a five-point lead and CC was never able to get closer than five for the rest of the match.

Concordia did not have a single player with more than eight kills in the match. Jenna Green had team highs in kills (8) and digs (18). Amy Sykora had 23 assists and Ashley Beseman came up with three blocks.

Green and Beseman were named to the Moorhead All-Region Tournament Team.  

Besides the 14 winners from Foley for the Tommies, Greenfield chipped in nine kills and Brimeyer had seven. St. Thomas also had three players with double-digit dig totals. Greenfield had a team-high 12. Ashley Maher recorded 33 assists for the three sets.

Foley, Brimeyer and Maher were named to the All-Region Team for UST.

Concordia finishes the season with a 27-4 record. The 27 wins ties for the second most in school history.