Tight Tilt At Nationally-Ranked Tommies
Concordia went back-and-forth with No.21-ranked St. Thomas in three of the final four sets but ended up losing a 3-1 (25-18, 33-31, 24-26, 26-24) nail-biter.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (9/25/19)---Concordia went back-and-forth with No.21-ranked St. Thomas in three of the final four sets but ended up losing a 3-1 (25-18, 33-31, 24-26, 26-24) nail-biter.
The Cobbers had set points in each of the second and fourth sets but couldn't convert and fell for the first time in conference play. Concordia is now 4-11 in all matches and 1-1 in the MIAC. St. Thomas wins for the sixth time in the last seven matches and is now 14-3 overall and 2-0 in league play.
Concordia started slowly, dropping the first set 25-18 but then stepped up in the second set and staged an instant classic that went deep into extra points. CC trailed 7-3 before going on a 10-6 run to tie the set at 13-13. The Cobbers then took a 19-16 lead before UST rallied to win five of the next seven points and tie the score at 21-21.
The Cobbers held their first set point at 25-24 after a kill by Bailey Gronner but then the Tommies countered with a kill of their own to tie it at 25-25. Concordia then saved off four straight set points before taking a 30-29 lead on a UST attack error. St. Thomas came up with another clutch kill to tie the set at 30-30 but then CC regrouped to win the next point to earn their third set point. St. Thomas won the decisive set by going on a 3-point run with three straight kills.
Concordia led for almost the entire third set before the Tommies went on a 4-0 streak to grab a 21-19 lead. CC then rattled three of the next points to tie the set at 22-22. The teams then traded points to get the score to 24-24 and then an attack error by St. Thomas and a kill by Anna Brakke gave Concordia the 26-24 win.
The teams traded 3-point leads in the first half of the fourth set before the Cobbers held the lead all the way from a 9-9 tie until their two set points at 24-22. St. Thomas was able to come up with four straight points via three kills and an attack error.
Both teams were consistent with their attack percentages after the first set and both teams had their best attack marks in losing sets. The Cobbers hit a match-high .186 in the fourth set while the Tommies high mark was .129 in the third set.
Concordia finished with a .117 attack percentage for the game while St. Thomas recorded a .124 mark for the four sets. UST held a 70-55 edge in kills for the game and came away with nine more digs (134-125).
The Cobber front line combined for 14 total blocks as compared to only four for St. Thomas.
Brakke led Concordia with 15 kills and 24 digs. The 24 digs is a career high and she has now recorded a double-double in two of the last three matches.
Freshman Brook Carney had her best match in maroon and gold. She came away with 13 kills and 14 digs to post her first collegiate double-double.
Kendra Wiggs added eight kills and a match-high seven blocks while Gabby DeBoer recorded 27 digs and Lexi Turn had 26 assists.
UP NEXT: Concordia will have a week break to prepare for its next conference match when they play at Hamline on Wednesday, Oct. 2 at 7 p.m.