On A Roll

Moorhead, Minn. (9/16/15)--- Concordia  proved that their upset win over No.19-ranked Augsburg earlier this week was no fluke as they swept Hamline 3-0 (25-21, 25-12, 25-19).

The Cobbers have now won three straight, four of their last five and seven of the last nine.  

Concordia led wire-to-wire in the first set. The Cobbers held a slim 18-16 lead but put the match away with three straight points coming from kills by Kathleen Lippert and Emily Friedrich and another block from Lippert. Leading 24-21, senior Olivia Wangensteen ended the first set with a ferocious winner to give the Cobbers a 25-21 win.

The Cobbers jumped out to a 9-2 advantage in the second set. Leading 5-2, Hamline committed five consecutive attack errors pushing Concordia's lead to four points. With a 19-11 lead, the Cobbers rattled off six of the final seven points which was capped by a Heather Beaner spike to end the second set 25-12.

Hamline would not go quietly in the third. The Pipers took the first two points and led 5-3 but an attack error from HU and a kill from Beaner tied it 5-5. The Pipers then took a 7-5 lead, but Concordia took four of the next five as Beaner and Kylie Schuelke recorded big kills to push the Cobbers ahead 9-7.

The third set went back-and-forth until the score was tied at 16-16. The Cobbers then took four of the next five, aided by a Mandy Mercil service ace giving Concordia a 20-17 advantage.

Leading 21-19, CC rattled off the last four points finished off by a Anna Skow-Anderson kill giving the Cobbers the 25-19 win and the sweep.

MIAC STRONG: Concordia has opened the conference season with a perfect 3-0 record. They are 9-1 sets played and have won seven straight sets in league play.

BIG "D", BIGGER FENCE: Concordia's defense held Hamline to a .009 attack percentage for the three sets. It marks the third time in the last five matches that CC has held their oppoenent under .100 on attack percentage.

BUILDING BLOCKS: The tandem of Lippert and Skow-Anderson combined for seven blocks. Lippert had four total blocks and Skow-Anderson added three. Lippert has had at least four blocks in three of the past four matches.      

PLAYING BIG: Senior Olivia Wangensteen stands at 5'10" but plays like she's 6'2". She had a team high eight kills in Saturday's match, but they all came at pivotal moments.

HELPING HANDS: The dynamic duo of Jena Klaphake and Mandy Mercil had 16 and 17 assists, respectively.

EFFICIENT SWINGS: Beaner had only 13 total attack attempts and managed to record seven kills for an attack percentage of .538.

WHAT'S NEXT? Standing at 9-3 overall and 3-0 in conference play - and riding a three-match win streak – Concordia will host Minn.-Morris in non-conference play on Tuesday, Sept. 29 at 7 p.m.