Rally Falls Short In Fourth

MOORHEAD, Minn. (10/08/15)—After posting a 27-25 in set No.2, it looked like Concordia might be able to overcome a 2-0 deficit against Bethel but a 7-2 hole to start set No.3 put an end to the Cobbers' rally plans and doomed the team to a 3-1 (20-25, 17-25, 27-25, 13-25) loss to the Royals.

The loss is the second straight for Concordia in conference play. The Cobbers started MIAC play at 4-0 but have now fallen to 4-2 and are currently tied for fourth place in the league standings. CC is now 11-5 overall.

Bethel wins for the third straight conference match and is an identical 4-2 in the league and are now 14-6 in all matches.

The story of the match came in the second and fourth sets where Bethel was able to hit .256 and then .286 while Concordia had just nine kills in set No.2 and then hit .098 in the fourth, and final, set.

For the match the Cobbers hit .103 which was less than the Royals' attack percentage of .190. Concordia is now 0-4 when they allow their opponents to hit above .150.

The second story of the match was the Royals' ability to make runs at key times of the set. They opened the first set with a 5-2 run to push a one-point lead to a four-point margin – a lead they would hold for the rest of the first set.

Bethel put the second set away with an 8-3 run after CC had got to within three points at 9-6.

The Cobbers flipped the switch in the third set by pulling out to a 17-10 lead after the score was tied at 4-4. Concordia nearly watched an eight-point lead go by the boards at the end of the set. CC led 20-12 but then the Royals went on a 12-4 run to the set at 24-24. That run contained four saves of set point. Concordia was able to finish off the set with a service error by BU and then a kill from senior Heather Beaner.

The fourth set was over in the first nine points as Bethel raced to a 7-2 lead and never looked back.

Concordia had one more kill and one more dig in the four sets.

Senior Olivia Wangensteen had a team-high 12 kills. She also had 17 digs to record her sixth double-double of the year. She has posted double-digit kill totals in three of the past four matches and now has 170 winners on the season.

Beaner was the only other CC player with more than eight kills. She had 11 winners and had a match-high .429 attack percentage. Beaner also had four blocks.

Freshman Lydia Hansen led the defense with five blocks and also added six kills. Korbyn Ross recorded a match-high 25 digs and Mandy Mercil and Jena Klaphake both had 21 assists for the night.

WHAT'S NEXT: Concordia will have a week break before returning to action on Thursday, Oct. 15 when they play at St. Catherine at 7 p.m. The Cobbers will then stay on the road and travel to Eau Claire, Wis. To take part in the Sandy Schumacher Memorial Tournament at Wis.-Eau Claire on Oct. 16-17.