Cobbers Finish Off Opening Weekend

GRINNELL, Iowa (9/03/22)---Concordia finished off its opening by dropping a pair of matches at the Central/Grinnell Invite. The Cobbers lost a dramatic 3-2 (25-16, 19-25, 25-17, 23-25, 20-18) decision to host Grinnell, and then fell 3-0 (25-18, 25-13, 25-22) to Greenville (Mo.).

The two defeats give Concordia a 1-3 record after the first four matches of the 2022 season. CC lost 3-0 to Buena Vista and beat Bethany Lutheran 3-2 on Friday.

The first match on Saturday looked to swing in Concordia's favor after they won 25-23 in the fourth set to tie the match at 2-2, and then they took a 4-1 lead to start the 15-point fifth set. Grinnell was able to tie the set at 7-7 before CC rattled off the next two points. The Cobbers would hold a 2-point lead until the bout was tied at 12-12. The score would then feature five more tie scores before Grinnell put the match away with a kill and an attack error.

The Cobbers struggled early against Greenville and were never able to get a lead after the midway point of the first set.

Senior Kendra Wiggs led Concordia during the four matches. She finished with a team-high 45 kills and hit .259 for the weekend. She had at least 11 winners in three of the four matches. Wiggs also finished with a team-high 10 blocks.

Sophomore Hannah Keil was second in kills with 30. She tied a career high with 13 winners in the match vs. Grinnell. Senior Anna Brakke added 28 kills and had 50 digs.

Junior transfer setter Kaia Lill posted 121 assists for the weekend to go along with 29 digs and three service aces.

Junior defensive specialist Chloe Markovic recorded at least 15 digs in all four matches, put up a season-high 32 in the win over Bethany Lutheran and finished with 86 digs.            

UP NEXT: Concordia will host its home opener on Tuesday, Sept. 4 when they face Presentation at 7 p.m.