Strong MIAC Opener Against Macalester

Moorhead, MN (September 16, 2015) - The Cobber women's volleyball team opened up MIAC play with a convincing four-set win (25-19, 25-22, 17-25, 25-18) over Macalester College. 

In the first set Concordia jumped out to a quick 7-4 lead but the MAC's rattled off five straight points led by two kills and a block from Regan Fruh. The Cobbers stormed back with three consecutive points and would not trail the rest of the set as they went to take the first one 25-19. 

Set two featured a thrilling back-and-forth game between the two teams. After Concordia had built a 9-3 lead after a ferocious spike from senior Olivia Wangensteen, Macalester came right back with seven straight points to take a 10-9 lead. The Cobbers used an attack of seniors as Katie Lippert, Anna Skow-Anderson, and Wangensteen each had a kill in a 6-2 run that pushed Concordia ahead 15-13. After three straight MAC points, the Cobbs rattled off 5-of-6 powered behind another Skow-Anderson kill and a timely block from Heather Beaner that put the Cobbers ahead 19-17. Macalester took three of the next four but kills from Lippert and Wangensteen proved too much down the stretch as Concordia took the second set 25-22. 

Macalester came out in the third set on an 8-2 run forcing head coach Tim Mosser to call a timeout. The strategy helped as the Cobbs came back to tie it 10-10 in but the MAC's were determined to play another set. The MAC's took ten of the next 12 match points aided by three attack errors and Concordia could not recover as Macalester took the set 17-25. 

In the fourth set Concordia seemed to regain control. It was tied 6-6 when consecutive kills from Lippert and Wangensteen triggered an 11-3 run giving Concordia a 17-9 advantage. After a Macalester run Skow-Anderson ended the match with a monster kill from the right side giving the Cobbers a 25-18 win. 

Block Party: Concordia senior Heather Beaner had a career-high 7.0 total blocks in the four-set match. Beaner's previous carerr high came earlier this year when she had 6.0 against Neb. Wesleyan. Beaner now has 30 blocks on the season which is six shy of her season career record of 36 which she posted in 2013.  

Killing Queens: Seniors Olivia Wangensteen and Anna Skow-Anderson led the Cobbers with 15 and ten kills, respectively. The dynamic duo made life difficult for the Macalester front line and back rows with hard hit-after-hard hit.  

Efficiency: Often overlooked is senior Katie Lippert. The Willmar native is arguably one of the most efficient players on the court for Concordia night in and night out. In the Macalester match she recorded nine kills in 19 opportunities for a kill percentage of .421. She also had an assist and five digs. 

Helping Hands/Lucky 21: The junior tandem of Mandy Mercil and Jena Klaphake would much rather distribute the ball, and they do a good job of it. The setters had 21 assists apiece.

Quotable: After the third set we just knew that we weren't reactive and did not communicate well. We just relaxed and communicated in the fourth set and it worked out in our favor." - Head Coach Tim Mosser discussing how the team bounced back from the third set loss. 

What's next? The team will travel to Gustavus on Saturday, September 19th and will play University of Wisconsin-Stout in the first match at 11 a.m. followed by a match with Luther at 3 p.m. After the weekend spent in non-conference play the team will return to it's MIAC schedule as they travel to Augsburg next Wednesday.

Highlights: Concordia vs. Macalester - Sept. 16, 2015