Cobbers Show Improvement In Match At Valley City St.

VALLEY CITY, N.D. (9/10/24)---Concordia came away with its first set win of the season but it wasn't enough as they fell 3-1 (25-12, 20-25, 25-23, 25-15) at Valley City St.

The Cobbers fell behind early in the opening set as the Vikings built an 11-4 lead and would cruise for the opening-set win.

Concordia turned the momentum in the match in their favor when they rattled off four of five points at the start to erase a 4-1 deficit. The Cobbers won the second set at the end by scoring six of the final seven points after the set was tied at 19-19.

The critical third set was the closest of the night with neither team holding more than a 3-point advantage. CC fell behind 17-14 but then fought back to tie the bout at 18-18. The team's traded points before Valley City opened a 2-point margin at 22-20. Concordia then showed off the best determination of the young season by taking the play to the Vikings and tying the set at 23-23. Unfortunately, an attack error and a kill gave the Vikings the narrow 25-23 win which gave them a 2-1 lead in the match.

The Cobbers never recovered in the fourth set. After the set was tied at 4-4, the Vikings won six of the next eight points and 13 of the following 17 points to seize control and come away with the 25-15 win.

Concordia had a season-high 38 kills in the match and hit .138, while Valley City had 61 kills and posted a .326 attack percentage.

The Cobbers hit .235 in the second set which is the highwater mark for CC in a set this season.

Junior Mallory Leitner and sophomore Samantha VanHeel came away with nine kills each to lead the Concordia offense. Leitner hit .350 in 20 total attacks and VanHeel posted a .152 attack percentage in 33 chances.

Anna Knain recorded a career-high 21 assists in the match.

Elizabeth Naugle and Lexi Lohman led the defense with nine digs each.

Concordia will return to tournament play when they compete in the Sandy Schumacher Tournament hosted by Wis.-Eau Claire on Sept. 13-14.