Carney Leads At Opening Weekend

ST. PAUL, Minn. (9/02/17)--- Concordia finished off the Northwestern Invite by dropping a pair of 3-0 decisions to solid regional foes Loras and Northwestern. The two losses push the Cobbers' record to 1-3 for the opening weekend of the season.

Concordia split their two matches on the opening day of the year on Friday when they lost to St. Scholastica 3-1 and beat Buena Vista 3-2.

Cobber sophomore Brianna Carney amassed 14 blocks and had 32 kills over the four matches. She led the team in rejections and was second in winners. For her efforts she was named to the All-Tournament Team. Carney had a weekend-best seven blocks vs. Buena Vista and had 10 or more kills in the first two matches of the year.

Junior Haley Cuppett led all CC players with 42 kills for the tournament. She also had a team-best .210 attack percentage and five service aces. She was second on the team in digs with 21. Cuppett had double-digit kill totals in three of the four matches over the weekend.    

A pair of freshmen captained the Concordia offense from their roles as setters. Jill Klaphake and Lexi Turn both had 64 assists. Klaphake also had five service aces and Turn was third on the team with 20 digs.

Senior Stephanie Baker accumulated 73 digs over the two days. Her high water mark came in the win against Buena Vista when she earned 29 digs.    

NORTHWESTERN ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM:
- Brianna Carney (Concordia)
- April Gehl (UW-Stevens Point)
- Mariah Halvorsen (UNW)
- Christaia Houser (St. Scholastica)
- Kayla Kinney (Loras)
- Kendra Kundinger (UW-Stevens Point)
- Lindsey Peterson (UNW)
- Jade Schaap (Buena Vista)

A SEASON IN 4 DAYS: Junior Haley Cuppett had 42 kills in the first four matches of the year. She had 55 in 18 matches in her freshman season.   

WHAT'S NEXT: Concordia will travel to Valley City for a midweek non-conference match with Valley City State. CC will then wait a full week before opening MIAC play on Wednesday, Sept. 13 when they host St. Thomas.