Buzzing And Stinging At The End Of September

Moorhead, Minn. (9/30/14)—Concordia finished off September like a bunch of swarming bees looking for a lip to bite. The Cobbers stung Valley City State 3-0 (25-16, 25-22, 25-11) to finish the month by swelling up to win three of their last four matches.

Concordia trailed for only two points during the match as they buzzed the Vikings with a .202 hitting percentage. The Cobbers also had 18 more kills than Valley City as they evened their overall record to 8-8.

The Cobbers were able to use 15 players in their final non-conference match of the season. CC also had nine players record at least two kills in the match. Concordia head coach Tim Mosser was able to give his younger players some much-needed experience for a large chunk of the match.

"It's really great to see them come out with confidence," answered junior Kathleen Lippert when asked about the younger players getting more playing time in the match.

"Sometimes they come out really timid," added Lippert. "But when you see them really get that spark it's awesome. Especially for us upperclassmen because we encourage them every single day to really work hard and have that confidence and when you see it happen it's really rewarding.         

Freshman Korbyn Ross led the parade of newcomers for Concordia. She finished with match highs in kill and attack percentage. She had 11 kills and hit .320 for the three sets. The 11 kills ties a career high. Korbyn Ross was also one dig shy of a career high in digs with 18.

Korbyn Ross was the only CC player with more than six kills for the game. Senior Kelly Reed added six and Lippert came away with five.

Lippert also had a match-high five blocks. It is the third time this year she has had a career-high five blocks. She currently leads the team in blocks with 37.

Alyssa Schmidt had another 20-dig performance. She finished right on the number with 20 digs. It marks the third time in the past four matches she has posted at least 20 digs. The Cobbers are now 5-2 when Schmidt records at least 20 digs.

Jena Klaphake had 20 assists while Mandy Mercil added 15 assists, five digs and one kill.

Concordia will now host their annual home-and-home conference weekend doubleheader. The Cobbers will square off against Carleton on Friday, Oct. 3 at 7 p.m. and then face St. Mary's on Saturday, Oct. 4 at 1:30 p.m.