A Playoff-Clinching Senior Celebration

MOORHEAD, Minn. (10/29/16)---It's a Senior Day Celebration that Jena Klaphake and Mandy Mercil won't soon forget.  

In one of the most dramatic, and unexpected, turns of the 2016 season, Concordia swept St. Benedict 25-15, 25-22, 25-23 to earn the sixth, and final, spot in the MIAC playoffs.   

The Cobbers' playoffs looked bleak heading into the final; regular-season match as they had lost seven straight and needed help from other teams in the MIAC. As quickly as you thought Concordia's chances of the postseason were over, they picked the most opportune time of the year to play their most complete match of the year.

Concordia grabbed the momentum in the match by going on a 9-3 run after the teams were tied 10-10 in the opening set. The Cobbers backed that 6-point advantage up with a 6-1 run at the end of the opener and rolled to a 25-15 win.

The Cobbers never trailed in Set 2. The won the first four points, extended the lead to 10-4 and then outlasted the Blazers down the stretch to win the second 25-22.

The third set had the makings of a St. Benedict win. The Blazers led by two points on four occasions late in the third. They had leads of 15-13, 19-17, 20-18 and then at 21-19 before CC made their playoff-clinching run and won six of the final eight points.

Concordia set the tone in the match by hitting .405 in the first set. They followed that up with a .217 clip in the second. Although they only hit .037 in the third, the Cobber defense limited St. Benedict to .020 to earn the win in the final set.

The frontline tandem of Emily Friedrich and Brianna Carney combined for 30 of the team's 44 kills in the match. Friedrich had a match-high 18 kills and hit .267 while Carney had 12 winners and finished with an attack percentage of .258. The two also had 76 of the team's 137 total attack chances.  Friedrich also had a team-high 17 digs and Carney had a match-high three blocks.

Klaphake had 37 assists in her memorable Senior Day Celebration while Mercil joined in the festivities by adding 14 digs. She was one of four Cobber players with double-digit dig totals in the match.

15 – IT'S BETTER THAN 14: Concordia will be making its 15th appearance in the MIAC playoffs which ties for the most among all schools in the conference.   

WHAT'S NEXT: Concordia will play at No.3-seeded St. Thomas on Tuesday, Nov. 1 at 7 p.m. in the quarterfinals of the MIAC tournament. The Cobbers just lost to the Tommies 3-0 last Wednesday.  

CONCORDIA vs. ST. BENEDICT HIGHLIGHTS