A Senior Celebration in Regular-Season Finale

MOORHEAD, Minn. (10/27/12)—In a match that meant absolutely nothing to the regular-season standings or seeding in the conference tournament, Concordia dropped a tight 3-1 (26-24, 16-25, 20-25, 22-25) decision to No.25-ranked St. Ben's on Saturday.

The Cobbers will now head into the postseason with a 12-10 overall record and a 7-4 mark in the MIAC. Concordia is the No.3 seed in the upcoming conference tournament and will host No.6 Bethel on Tuesday, Oct. 30 in a quarterfinal match. The Blazers, who had already secured the No.2 spot in the final league standings, win for the 14^th straight time and move to 26-4 overall and 10-1 in the MIAC.

Concordia was able to grab the win in the first set when they won the final two points after the scores was tied at 24-24. St. Ben's broke the second set open with a 12-4 run after they held a slim 13-12 advantage and the third set was with a 5-0 run after CSB had a 17-15 lead. The Cobbers looked like they would even the match at 2-2 when they had a 21-16 lead in the fourth set. St. Ben's then rattled off four straight points to get to within 21-20. A kill by freshman Olivia Wangensteen  would give CC a 22-20 lead but it wound up being their final point of the match. The Blazers were able to post five straight points to take the set and the match.

The Cobbers hit .199 as a team as compared to .294 for St. Ben's. The Blazers had 15 kills in the match and recorded 17 more digs.       
   
Wangensteen finished with a team-high 15 kills. She hit .233 for the match and also had 14 digs. Kelly Reed was the only other CC player with a double-digit kill total. She had 10 winners and a team-high three blocks. Danelle Loomis recorded 30 assists and Rachel Wiinanen had 19 digs.

Concordia will now turn its attention to the conference tournament when they host Bethel on Tuesday, Oct. 30 at 7 p.m. The Cobbers will be making their 12^th straight MIAC Tournament appearance.