Must-Win Delivers Impressive Sweep

MOORHEAD, Minn. (10/24/15)--- Less than 24 hours after dropping a heartbreaking five-set thriller to league-leading Gustavus, Concordia rebounded by sweeping Carleton (25-15, 25-16, 25-22) in a must-win situation to stay in the race for the MIAC playoffs.

The Cobbers set the tone for the match by winning the first five points of the opening set and rolled to their 14th win of the season. CC has won two of its last three matches and move to 14-9 overall. More importantly, Concordia ups its MIAC record to 6-3 which is currently tied for fourth place in the conference standings.

Carleton entered the match with only four league losses and falls to 4-5 in the MIAC and 13-8 overall. The Knights had won four of their past five matches heading into Saturday's showdown.

The 5-0 lead in the first set gave Concordia the confidence to cruise to a 25-156 win in the opener. CC hit minus-0.28 in the first set but the defense held Carleton to a minus-.116 attack percentage.

The second set was the high water mark for the Cobber offense in the match. Concordia hit .184 and had 14 kills. The defense held the Knights under an .000 attack percentage for the second straight set.

The third set was the most competitive and it looked like Carleton would right the ship and get back in the match. The Knights led 14-12 and the score was tied at 22-22 before the Cobbers rattled off three straight points behind a pair of kills from Vanessa Johnson to come away with the three-set sweep.

Concordia finished the match with a .113 attack percentage and had 35 kills. Carleton hit .017 for the match and had 20 kills. CC also had 11 more digs and five more blocks than the Knights in the match.

Not a single member of either team had a double-digit kill total. Concordia's Olivia Wangensteen led all players with nine kills. She also had 10 digs. Freshman Tedi Ramberg came off the bench to give Concordia a big boost in the third set. She recorded five kills and added two blocks.

Kathleen Lippert came away with four blocks while Jena Klaphake had a match-high 15 assists and Korbyn Ross added a match-high 19 digs.               

WHAT'S NEXT: Concordia will continue its playoff quest when it hosts St. Thomas on Wednesday, Oct. 28 at 7 p.m. The Cobbers will then play at St. Benedict on Saturday, Oct. 31 at 3 p.m. in the final match of the 2015 regular season.         

Concordia vs. Carleton Match Highlights