Cobbers Drop Marathon Match to Cougars in Home Opener
The Cobber volleyball team left it all on the court inside Memorial Auditorium on Tuesday night, pushing Minnesota Morris to the limit in a five-set battle. In the end, though, the Cougars had the final surge, escaping with a 3–2 win (20–25, 25–20, 25–21, 18–25, 15–7).
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
25 | 20 | 21 | 25 | 7 | 2 |
|
|
20 | 25 | 25 | 18 | 15 | 3 |
Team Stats
Minn.-Morris
| Game Statistics | Minn.-Morris | Concordia-M'head |
|---|---|---|
| Hitting % | 0.092 | 0.102 |
| Blocks | 4 | 10 |
| Digs | 73 | 81 |
| Aces | 10 | 5 |
MOORHEAD, MINN. (9/9/25) – Concordia set the tone early, shaking off a slow start to take the opening set. After falling behind 9–5, the Cobbers chipped away thanks to a kill from Cayla Sailer that cut the gap to one. With the score tied late, Lauren Bangs delivered a momentum-shifting kill that sparked a five-point run and a 22–18 lead. Sailer and Addy Klemin then finished the job with back-to-back kills, giving CC the first set 25–20.
The Cobbers carried that energy into set two, racing out to a 4–1 lead and stretching the margin to 15–9 after kills from Sailer and Mallory Leitner. But the Cougars refused to go away. Behind strong swings from Mary Cate Ziembiec and Payton Merth, Morris used a 10–2 run to flip the script and take control. A late Bangs kill stopped the bleeding, but UMM closed out the set 25–20 to even the match.
The third set brought the wildest swings of the night. CC looked unstoppable early, sprinting to a 15–8 advantage behind a serving run from Holland Fitterer and kills from Sailer and Annie Horan. But the Cougars rallied once again, tying the set at 15–15 and seizing momentum down the stretch. After the Cobbers fought back to 19–19, UMM closed with six of the final eight points, including two clutch aces, to steal a 25–21 win and grab a 2–1 lead.
Refusing to fold, the Cobbers put together their sharpest set in the fourth. Tied at 9–9, CC exploded for five straight points fueled by Sailer's serving and a big block from Horan and Klemin. Consecutive kills from Leitner and Horan stretched the margin to 21–17, and Concordia finished the frame on a 4–0 run to secure a 25–18 win and force a winner-take-all fifth.
The finale started perfectly for the Cobbers as Horan put away a kill and Morris committed two errors to make it 3–0. But the Cougars quickly flipped momentum, stringing together 12 of the next 14 points to surge ahead 12–5. Despite late kills from Leitner and Sailer, Morris held on to close the match 15–7.
Leitner was a force all night, finishing with a team-high 15 kills on just two errors while hitting .342. Anna Knain directed the offense with 20 assists, and Sailer and Kelsi Martini anchored the back row with 16 digs apiece.
The Cobbers return home this weekend for the Concordia Triangular, opening against Wisconsin-Stout at 1:00 PM before squaring off with North Central at 5:00 PM.
