5-Set Comeback Thriller Falls Short

MOORHEAD, Minn. (10/23/15)—Concordia saved off two match points in the fourth set before finally falling to league-leading Gustavus 3-2 in the fifth, and deciding, set. The Cobbers pushed the unbeaten Gusties all the way until the end before losing only their second match of the year at home.

Gustavus entered the match on a 21-match win streak and hadn't been pushed to five sets in any of their first seven MIAC matches this year. Their win streak appeared to be in jeopardy after the Cobbers won the fourth set 29-27 after rallying from match points at 25-24 and 26-25. Unfortunately for Concordia, Gustavus started the fifth set on a 3-0 run and that proved to be the difference in the final set.

"I really liked the way our team persevered in that fourth set," commented Concordia head coach Tim Mosser. "We didn't get down after they had a match point and showed our toughness to pull out the win."

Concordia won the first set 25-22. They earned the victory by closing out the opening set on a 9-6 run after the set was tied at 16-16.

Gustavus showed their school record win streak mettle by cruising to a 25-14 win in the second set and then a 25-17 victory in the third set. The Gusties only trailed for a total of two points during those two wins.

The fourth set followed the same plot lie as the opener as both teams went back and forth. The Cobbers eased to a 17-11 lead before Gustavus reeled Concordia in by going on a 10-4 run to tie the set at 21-21. Concordia then took timeout and got to a set point at 24-23. The Gusties then won two straight points to take a 25-24 lead. The teams traded points until a bad set by the Gusties and then a kill from Mandy Mercil gave CC the set and tied the match at 2-2.

Concordia never led in the fifth set. Gustavus bolted to a 3-0 lead and didn't give it up for the rest of the match. CC got to within one point at 6-5 but then a 4-1 streak put the Gusties up 10-6 and pushed the Cobbers into to ig of a hole to recover from.

The Cobbers only hit above .000 in the first and fourth sets and finished with a .029 attack percentage for the match. Gustavus hit above .100 in all but the fifth set and ended the match with a .177 attack percentage. The Gusties held a 59-48 edge in kills and also came away with 17 more digs in the match.

Anna Skow-Anderson had a team-high 12 kills for the five-set bout. She also led the squad with a team-high .267 attack percentage and added had five blocks. Olivia Wangensteen was the only other CC player with more than nine kills in the match. She finished with 11 winners to go along with 15 digs.

The Concordia defense recorded 10.0 blocks which marks the fourth time this season they have posted a double-digit block total. Senior Kathleen Lippert led all players by tying her season best of seven blocks. Lippert also had four kills.

Korbyn Ross came away with a team-high 24 digs and Mercil had 24 assists and eight digs.

A pair of freshmen came off the bench to have big games for Concordia. Haley Cuppett had nine kills and hit .200 while Kylie Schuelke put up a career-high 18 digs.

WHAT'S NEXT: Concordia will have little time to prepare for their next match as they host Carleton on Saturday, Oct. 24 at 3 p.m. in a crucial MIAC match-up between teams vying for one of the six spots in the conference tournament.          

Concordia vs. Gustavus Match Highlights