Three-Set Rally Leads To "Must Win" At St. Olaf

NORTHFIELD, Minn. (10/25/14)—Facing a "must-win" match at St. Olaf, Concordia rallied from a 1-0 deficit, won three straight sets and posted a 3-1 (16-25, 28-26, 25-18, 25-22) victory over the Oles to keep their playoff hopes alive.

The Cobbers entered the match in ninth place in the conference standings as they try to earn a spot in the six-team league playoffs. The win by CC pushes their MIAC record to 4-5 overall and helps them jump two spots into seventh place in the league standings. Concordia is now tied with Carleton and Hamline for seventh place, just one game out of the two-way tie at fifth place. The Cobbers are now 11-11 overall.

Concordia started out slowly as they looked to be feeling the effects from Friday night's 3-0 loss at Gustavus. The Cobbers gave up the first four points of the opening set to St. Olaf. CC struggled in the early going and eventually fell behind 14-5. The Oles were able to hold on to the nine-point advantage and rolled to a 25-16 in the first set. CC's offense struggled in the first set. The Cobbers had a minus-.094 attack percentage and had more attack errors (11) then kills (11).

The Cobbers were able to stay with St. Olaf through the first part of the second set and then the offense started to find its way. CC took a 15-10 lead but then watched the Oles tie the match at 23-23. The teams then traded points until a pair of kills by senior Kelly Reed gave the Cobbers a 28-26 win.   

Concordia gave up the first four points of the third set and trailed 10-7 at one point but then came through by winning 18 of the final 26 points to claim the 25-18 victory.

The same story line played out in the fourth, and final, set. CC trailed 17-13 before rattling off five straight points to take an 18-17 advantage. The teams then traded points until a 22-22 deadlocked. A kill by junior Heather Beaner and then to Ole errors gave CC the set and match wins.

The Cobbers hit above .145 in the final three sets of play and finished with a .099 attack percentage. Concordia held a 47-40 edge in kills and had five more assists.

Beaner led the Cobbers in kills for the second straight match. She had 11 winners to record her third double-digit kill total of the season. She also had 10 digs to come away with her second collegiate double-double.

Reed and Kynndyl Ross had 10 kills each. Reed had a team-best .207 attack percentage. Mandy Mercil stepped up to lead the offense and had 25 assists. It's the sixth time in 2014 she has had 25 or more assists on the season. Alyssa Schmidt had a match-high 22 digs in the winning effort.

Concordia will continue with their "playoffs before the playoffs" when they play at Macalester on Wednesday, Oct. 29 at 7 p.m.