A Friday Night Thriller

MOORHEAD, Minn. (10/21/22)---Concordia battled No.16-ranked Gustavus through four tough sets before finally falling 3-1 (29-27, 23-25, 25-13, 25-13).

The Cobbers held a 23-20 lead in the first set but then couldn't finish on a set point at 24-23, and had the Gusties come back to win 29-27. Concordia returned the favor in the second set as they trailed 23-21, then rattled off four straight points to win 25-23.

Concordia couldn't find their late-set momentum in the third and fourth sets and lost for only the third time in the last eight matches.

The Cobbers are now 7-14 overall and 3-5 in the MIAC. Gustavus wins for the 10th straight time and is now 20-4 in all matches and 8-0 in conference play.

Concordia hit .177 in the opening set and had 19 kills. They backed that up with 15 kills and a .239 attack percentage in their win in set No.2. The Cobbers ran out of gas in the third and forth sets as they didn't hit over .060 in either set and had 17 combined kills in the two sets.

Gustavus hit at least .230 in all four sets and had 17 kills in each of the first two sets. They didn't have an attack error in the third set and hit .378 to take control of the match.

The Cobbers had three players with at least 10 kills on the night. They were led by Hannah Keil and Anna Brakke who both had 12 winners. Brakke hit .237 and also had 13 digs. It was her ninth double-double of the season. Brakke now has 198 kills and 253 digs for the season.       

Brook Carney came away with 11 kills. She has now had at least 9 winners in seven of her last eight matches and has 161 kills for the year.

Junior setter Kaia Lill posted another 40-plus assist match. She had 42 helpers which gives her 702 for the year. She has 271 assists in conference play which is sixth in the MIAC. Lill also added 14 digs which was second on the team, and tied for her third highest total this season.

Chloe Markovic led the CC defense with 24 digs. It's the ninth time this season she has had at least 20 digs in a match. Markovic now has 375 digs in all matches and 136 in MIAC matches.

UP NEXT: Concordia will finish off their home-and-home weekend when they host St. Olaf on Saturday, Oct. 22 at 4 p.m. in the annual Senior Celebration Day match.