Magic Act Upends Cobbers

NORTHFIELD, Minn. (10/22/16)--- If Concordia's match at Carleton was a magician's trick then the Cobbers would have gotten the rug pulled out from underneath them at the end of the first act and never recovered.

Concordia lost the final three points of the opening set after the score was tied at 22-22 then gave up 12 of the first 13 points in the second set and lost 3-0 (25-22, 25-12, 25-17) to the Knights.

Unfortunately for the Cobbers the loss also might make their playoff chances disappear. Concordia is now 4-5 in the MIAC and tied for seventh place in the league standings. CC is tied with Carleton and both teams are .5 games behind Bethel with two matches left in conference play.

Concordia held a pair of brief leads in the third set at 2-1 and 3-2 but then a 10-0 run by the Knights when the set was tied at 5-5 put the match out of reach.

The Cobbers were unable to contain the Carleton offensive attack. The Knights hit .209 in the first set, a match-high .400 in the second and .256 in the third. Concordia's best offensive output came in the opener when they had a .054 attack percentage.  

The Knights had a 38-32 edge in kills but the Cobbers were able to come away with a 53-49 margin in digs. Carleton had seven total team blocks as opposed to only two for CC.

Freshman Brianna Carney paced Concordia with 11 kills. She hit .200 for the match. Stephanie Baker came away with 15 digs while senior Jena Klaphake added 11 digs and 25 assists.

WHAT'S NEXT: Concordia has two matches left in the regular season. The Cobbers will travel to St. Thomas on Wednesday, Oct. 26 and then host St. Benedict on Saturday, Oct. 29 at 3 p.m.