Early-Set Success Leads To Fifth Straight Win
Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
St. Catherine (6-13/0-5 MIAC) | 15 | 19 | 25 | 18 | 1 | |
Concordia-M'head (13-4/5-0 MIAC) | 25 | 25 | 18 | 25 | 3 |
St. Catherine
Game Statistics | St. Catherine | Concordia-M'head |
---|---|---|
Hitting % | .225 | .269 |
Blocks | 3.0 | 7.0 |
Digs | 72 | 75 |
Aces | 6 | 10 |
MOORHEAD, Minn. (10/02/13)—Concordia hit over.280 in three of the four sets against St. Catherine, finished with an attack percentage of .269 and beat the Wildcats 3-1 on Wednesday.
The win is the fifth straight for the Cobbers and seventh in the last eight matches. The Cobbers are now 13-4 on the year and remain unbeaten in MIAC play at 5-0. The 13 overall wins matches the team's total for all of last season when they went 13-11.
The Cobbers established their attack at the net from the opening serve in the first set as they bolted to an 8-2 lead, widened the margin to 20-8 and the won 24-15. CC hit a match-best .393 in the opening set.
The second set was almost a carbon copy of the first with Concordia racing to an early lead, and then cruised to a six-point win. The Wildcats were able to pick up some momentum at the back end of the second set and narrowed the lead to 19-17 before CC was able to finish off the second set win. St. Kate's carried that momentum into the third set. They were able to stay close to the Cobbers at the start and then used a 6-1 run at the very end to win 25-18.
The deciding fourth set was won in the middle stages. St. Catherine used the energy from the third-set win to grab a 5-2 lead. The set remained close with both teams trading runs until the score was deadlocked at 13-13. That is when the Cobbers made the match-winning run and earned nine of the next 11 points.
The Cobbers had three players finish with double-digit kill totals. Junior All-Conference right-side hitter Kynndyl Ross posted a match-high 17 kills while Kayla Hampton and Heather Beaner added 11 winners each. It was Ross' sixth straight match with at least 10 kills. She now has 11 double-digit kill totals on the year. Ross also had a team-high .400 hitting percentage for the match. Hampton has now put down 33 winners in the team's last three matches which has been an even bigger story since the team has been playing without 2012 MIAC Rookie of the Year Olivia Wangensteen in those contests. Beaner's 11 kills are a career-high for the sophomore middle hitter. She also had 13 digs to earn her first collegiate double-double.
Concordia also had three players with at least 10 digs on the night. Libero Alyssa Schmidt led the way with 21 digs and senior Angie Waller added 11 digs. Mandy Mercil led the CC offense with 29 assists and fellow freshman Jena Klaphake had 13.
The Cobbers will now step outside conference play when they participate in the Wartburg (Iowa) Invite on Friday and Saturday. Concordia will take on Elmhurst (Ill.) and Coe on Friday, Oct. 4 and then play Carthage and host Wartburg on Saturday, Oct. 5.