Thrilling Home Opener Goes To The Wire

MOORHEAD, Minn. (9/06/22)---If the rest of the 2022 home schedule is anything like the opener in memorial Auditorium, Cobber fans are in for a year of exciting and dramatic volleyball.

Concordia roared back from a 2-1 deficit against Presentation to tie the match at 2-2 before falling in a nail-biting 18-16 decision in the fifth set. The Cobbers led throughout most of the fifth set, and had a match point at 14-13, before the Saint won the contest by scoring two straight.

The 3-2 (19-25, 25-20, 26-24, 21-25, 18-16) score line had numerous twists and turns before it was finally settled in just over two hours.

Concordia won the opening set 25-19, but then had Presentation come back in the second to even the match at 1-1 with a 25-20 win. The third set could have been the turning point of the match, with the Cobbers holding an 18-7 and – and looking like they would take a 2-1 edge in the match. The Saints were able to 15 of the final 18 points and earn the 26-24 victory.

The third set played out the same way with CC jumping to an early 4-1 lead before Presentation won four straight points to take a 5-4 lead, and set up the back-and-forth finish down the stretch.

The team statistics were nearly identical for the 5-set match. Concordia held a 57-55 edge in kills and an 82-81 advantage in digs. CC hit .125 as compared to .104 for Presentation.

The Cobbers had three players with double-digit kill totals. Freshman Mallory Leitner had a team-high 14 winners and hit .235. Seniors Kendra Wiggs and Anna Brakke also had at least 10 kills. Wiggs posted 12 kills and hit .333, while Brakke recorded 11 winners and added 14 digs.

Junior transfer setter Kaia Lill came through with 51 assists and 15 digs. Chloe Markovic finished with a team-high 28 digs.

UP NEXT: Concordia will head east to Wisconsin to take part in the Wis.-Stevens Point on the weekend. The Cobbers will play Marian and host Stevens Point on Saturday at 12:00 and 2 p.m.