Cobbers Lose To Falcons In Opener At Coe Invite

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (9/06/24)---Concordia dropped its opening match of the Coe Invitational in Cedar Rapids on Friday. The Cobbers fell 3-0 (25-11, 25-19, 25-22) to Concordia (Wis.), who have now won three of their past four matches.

The Cobbers improved from set-to-set against the Falcons but weren't able to come away with their first set win of the season. CC had six kills in the opening set, nine in the middle bout and then 10 in the final set.

Concordia's best attack percentage came in the second set when they hit .200. The Cobbers finished the match by hitting .085 as opposed to .223 for the Falcons.

The Cobbers ran into a snag in the opening set after the first 11 points. CC trailed 7-4 but then a 17-5 run by the Falcons gave them the opener. The teams traded points in the second set and the Cobbers held a 9-7 lead after a service ace from Anna Knain. The Falcons were able to win five points to grab the momentum and post the 6-point win. The third set was the closest of the night. Concordia took a 21-18 lead on a winner from Jordyn Johnson before the Falcons rattled off seven of the last eight points.

Sophomore Samantha VanHeel led the Cobber offense with seven kills and hit .375. She had 16 total attacks. Mallory Leitner had a team-high 24 attacks and came away with six winners.

Knain finished with nine assists and Hanna Mooney led the defense with eight digs.

Concordia will finish off the Coe Infite on Saturday when they face a pair of teams that are in the "others receiving votes" category in the latest DIII national poll. The Cobbers will play Wis.-Platteville at 9 a.m. and then battle host Coe at 11 a.m.