Cobbers Can't Continue Fast Start, Fall To Valley City State

MOORHEAD, Minn. (10/13/21)---Concordia got the start they wanted, rolling to a 25-17 win in the first set, but they were unable to keep the momentum going and lost 3-1 (25-17, 20-25, 21-25, 18-25) to NAIA opponent Valley City State.

The turning point in the match may have come in the second with the Cobbers looking to take a commanding 2-0 lead. CC had just rallied from a 3-0 deficit to start the set and grabbed an 8-7 lead on a kill by sophomore Peyton Selle. Valley City was able to score the next four points and kept Concordia from getting within two points for the remainder of the set.

The second key spot came in the third set with the score 13-11 in favor of the Vikings. VCSU went on a 6-1 run to take a 19-12 lead and never trailed for the remainder of the match.

Concordia (6-13) had 14 kills and hit .225 in the first set, and nearly duplicated the feat in the third when they also put down 14 winners and hit .224. The second and fourth sets were not as successful on the offensive end for CC. The Cobbers finished the match with 46 kills and a .157 attack percentage.

Valley City (10-13), who has now won five straight matches, struggled in the first set but then hit at least .200 in the final three sets. They had a match-high 17 kills in the third and topped out with a .546 hitting mark in the fourth. The Vikings had 58 winners and hit .248 in the match.

Freshman Hannah Keil was the only Cobber player with more than eight kills in the match. She posted her second-straight 11-kill match and has now had a double-digit winner total in seven matches this year. Keil also hit .417 for the night and finished with a team-high three blocks.  

Anna Brakke led Concordia's strong service game. The Cobbers heled a 9-5 advantage in aces in the match. It is the fifth time this year that CC has had at least nine service aces in a match.

Brakke recorded five aces to go along with eight kills and eight digs.

Sophomore Peyton Selle led the Cobber attack early and finished with seven kills. She has recorded 29 winners in her last four matches after having only one in the team's first 15 matches of the year.  

Chloe Markovic and Karlie Goschen both had double-digit dig totals for the match. Markovic had a match-high 21 digs and Goschen added 10 to the team's total. Markovic is sixth in the MIAC in digs this year with 283. Goschen had two service aces and remains in the Top 10 of the league in that stat category. She is tied for 10th with 25 aces on the year.  

Kenzie Urbanec and Mariah Iwen split the setter duties for the Cobbers. Urbanec had 22 assists and Iwen posted 17. Urbanec has 455 helpers this season which is seventh in the conference.

UP NEXT: Concordia will continue with their 4-match home stand when they host Carleton on Friday, Oct. 15 at 7 p.m. The match against the Knights is the first half of a home conference doubleheader weekend. CC will also host St. Mary's on Saturday, Oct. 16 at 3 p.m.