First-Set Momentum Swing Foils Cobbers

MOORHEAD, Minn. (10/30/13)—Sometimes volleyball matches can be won in the course of a few points in the very first set. That was the case for Concordia against Augsburg as the Cobbers couldn't close out a 21-18 lead in the first set and lost 3-0 (26-24, 25-18, 25-20).

The win gives the Auggies at least a share of their first-ever MIAC regular season championship. The Cobbers had a chance to earn a share of the title and the No.1 seed in the upcoming MIAC playoffs but will now be the No.4 seed and host a quarterfinal match on Tuesday, Nov. 5. CC is now 18-9 overall and finished the MIAC campaign at 9-2.

The pivotal stretch of the match came at the back end of the opening set. Concordia led for most of first set and took a 21-18 lead. CC then had a chance to grab a four-point lead at 22-18 lead but a kill attempt sailed wide. Augsburg then rattled off three more points to tie the set at 21-21. CC rallied and had set point at 24-23 but three straight Auggie points earned the pivotal win.                         

Cobber head coach Tim Mosser stressed the importance of that first set. "I thought if we had won that first set we had a real chance to win the match," stated Mosser. "We were never able to recover from that point."

Augsburg (27-3/10-1 MIAC) proceeded to take a 5-1 lead in the second set and then never trailed in the final two contests.

The Cobbers weren't able to consistently stop the Auggie frontline attack. Augsburg hit .296 for the match which included a .353 mark in the second set and .316 in the third. Concordia hit .177 for the three sets. Every other statistical category was virtually even but the hitting percentage proved to be the difference in the match.

Cobber junior Kynndyl Ross had a team-high 12 kills in the match. She also had match-high .409 hitting percentage. Kayla Hampton added eight kills and had three blocks. Olivia Wangensteen and Anna Skow-Anderson added seven winners each. Angie Waller recorded a match-high 15 digs and Jena Klaphake had a team-high 22 assists.

Concordia will now play a pair of non-conference matches before the conference postseason. The Cobbers will play at UM-Morris on Saturday, Nov. 2 at 2 p.m. and then square off against Northwestern at 4 p.m. at UM-Morris.