Progress Shown
Concordia lost the first two sets at St. Ben's on Wednesday but then showed a ton of progress in the third set and was edged in a 25-23 thriller.
ST. JOSEPH, Minn. (3/24/21)---It didn't start the way Concordia wanted, but by the end of the third set, the Cobbers started to see a definitive amount of progress as they dropped a 3-0 decision at St. Benedict.
The Bennies, who advanced to the NCAA Elite 8 in 2019, claimed a 25-19 win in the opening set and then won 25-16 in the second set. The Cobbers then found the level of play they were looking for in the third set. They fell behind early but then won 18 of the final 31 points and were edged in the final two points and lost 25-23.
Concordia was outhit by St. Ben's in the first two sets but then finished with a .233 attack percentage in the third set as compared to .209 for CSB.
The Cobbers were led by freshman Mariah Ahrndt who posted a team-high eight kills and hit .241 for the match. Winnie Selekwa came through with a team-best .500 attack percentage and had five winners while junior Kendra Wiggs had six kills.
First-year libero Chloe Markovic recorded a Cobber-best 21 digs. Anna Brakke had 17 digs and Karlie Goschen added 10 as the trio recorded 48 of the team's 59 digs in the match.
The senior setter tandem of Jill Klaphake and Lexi Turn combined for 29 assists. Klaphake had the slight edge with 15 helpers as compared to 14 for Turn.
Concordia trailed 12-5 in the third set and then came through with their best volleyball of the season. They were able to close the gap to 13-10 and then crept closer at 18-16. The Cobbers then forced the Bennies to take a timeout when Brook Carney came through with a kill and then the CC defense forced an attack error to close the margin to a single point at 19-18.
The teams would trade 2-point runs to push the score 21-20. CC trailed 21-18 but then winners from Wiggs and Brakke kept Concordia within striking distance. Brakke's kill to get the score to 21-20 made CSB take a second timeout down the stretch.
For the second straight time, the Bennies were able to score consecutive points coming out of the break. Concordia then countered with a 3-point streak to tie the set at 23-23. Brakke, Ahrndt and an attack error leveled the set and brought both teams to their feet.
St. Ben's would have the final streak of the night when they scored the final two points of the match to win 25-23.
MAKING HER MARK: Markovic has taken little time to adjust to the college game. The first-year libero from Bismarck leads the team in digs after two matches. She had nine in the opener against Bethel and then put up 21 at St. Ben's.
DOUBLING UP: Concordia hit .107 for their second match of the year which is almost double the .054 mark they posted in the season opener.
UP NEXT: Concordia will host a rare conference triangular match meet on Saturday, Mar. 27. The Cobbers will face Augsburg at 1 p.m. and then host St. Mary's at 5 p.m. The Auggies and Cardinals will battle each other in a match at 3 p.m.
RECAP SPONSOR: Tonight's recap sponsor is Buffalo Wild Wings. BWW has been a gracious sponsor of Cobber Athletics for years and supplies the tasty treats for the annual Golden Cobbs awards show. Whenever CC volleyball coaches Faith Dooley and Morgan Hoover need a pick-me-up after a tough match they head over to the Moorhead B-Dubs for some delicious wings.
