A Treat Of A Come-From-Behind Rally

MOORHEAD, Minn. (9/18/19)---Trailing 2-0 in the home opener against St. Catherine, the outlook didn't look good for the Cobbers in the first conference match of the year. First-year head coach Faith Dooley then came up with a "treat" of a coaching ploy and Concordia responded by taking three straight to pull off an improbable 3-2 (17-25, 22-25, 25-14, 25-20, 15-8).

"I gave them the choice of either conditioning or brownies for tomorrow's practice," Dooley said. "They obviously decided for the treat and responded with a better energy level and we were able to win three straight and take the match."

Concordia's lack of energy in the first two sets showed as they only had 16 kills and hit less than .150. The Cobbers then rallied in the third by treating the crowd to a 10-0 run which took the score from 6-5 to 16-5. CC would close out the third set by hitting .476 and putting down 10 winners. Both numbers were a match high for CC.

The Cobbers then won the fourth set by playing their best volleyball at the end of the set. CC trailed 19-18 but then won seven of the next eight points to take the 25-20 win.

Concordia carried that momentum into the deciding fifth set.  They won five of the first six points and didn't allow the Wildcats to get to within four points in the final half of the set.

The Cobbers hit .158 and had 40 kills in the match as opposed to .120 and 49 winners for St. Catherine.

The Concordia offensive attack was led by Anna Brakke and Bailey Gronner who combined for 20 of the team's 40 kills.

"We gave the ball a lot more to Bailey and Anna on the outside," Dooley commented. "But overall all our hitters did their job."

Brakke had a team-high 11 kills and hit .269 while Gronner came away with nine winners hit .167. Brakke also added 11 digs to record her first double-double of the season.

Brianna Carney led all players with eight blocks and also came away with six kills. Jill Klaphake recorded 15 assists and libero Gabby DeBoer posted a match-high 13 digs.

UP NEXT: Concordia will step back outside conference play on the weekend when they travel to Morris to square off against Minn.-Morris on Saturday, Sept. 21 at 3:30 p.m. The Cobbers fell 3-2 to the Cougars earlier in the year in a match in the St. Benedict tournament.     

CONCORDIA vs. ST. CATHERINE HIGHLIGHTS & POSTMATCH INTERVIEW