Early And Often

MOORHEAD, Minn. (10/30/12)—Sophomore Kynndyl Ross and freshman Olivia Wangensteen showed no signs of playoff jitters as the two youngsters helped Concordia sweep Bethel 25, 13, 25-13, 25-17 in the quarterfinals of the MIAC Tournament. The Cobbers now advance to the semifinals where they will play at St. Ben's on Thursday, Nov. 1 at 7 p.m.

"I think the older gals set the tone and that allowed our freshmen and sophomores to just relax and play," remarked head coach Tim Mosser.   

The win pushes the Cobbers' record to 13-10 on the year. Concordia has now reached the semifinals of the MIAC Tournament in four straight seasons. Bethel falls to 19-13 and loses for the third straight match.    

Ross and Wangensteen combined for 13 kills in the opening set against the Royals as Concordia took command of the match from the onset. Ross went on to hit .565 and had a match-high 13 kills while Wangensteen finished with 11 kills and hit .261.

The Cobber defense also rose to the occasion as they limited Bethel to a .018 hitting percentage and allowed only 23 kills for the entire match for the Royals.

"They (Bethel) have two great middles and we just focused on them," said Mosser. We were going to double block them wherever they go and make their other players play to beat us."

Concordia started the match by winning four of the first five points and 14 of the first 17. The Cobbers hit .333 for the first set. The momentum carried over into the second set as CC won seven of their first eight points and cruised to an 18-10 lead. The third set scenario changed with Bethel gaining a 6-3 lead before Mosser called timeout to regroup.

"We just reminded the team of two things," said Mosser." Let's make sure we pass well and let's go to the match-ups that we can use to our advantage. One we went to those match-ups that righted the ship and got the momentum in our favor."    

The Cobbers ended up winning eight of the next nine points out of the timeout and rolled to a 25-17 win in the final set.

Besides the play of Ross and Wangensteen, Kelly Reed had seven kills and junior Kayla Hampton tied her career high with six blocks. Danelle Loomis came away with 28 assists and Rachel Wiinanen had a team-high 17 digs.

Concordia will now head south to St. Joseph to take on St. Ben's in the MIAC semifinals on Thursday, Nov. 1 at 7 p.m.