2004 Concordia-Moorhead Volleyball Preview
Concordia
Volleyball Home Page for 2004
See
Also: 2003 Season Stats | 2003
Box Scores
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College Information
School: Concordia-Moorhead
Founded : 1891
Location: Moorhead, MN
Enrollment : 2850
President : Dr. Pamela Jolicoeur
Athletic Director: Dr. Larry Papenfuss
Team Nickname: Cobbers
Colors: Maroon and Gold
Logo: The Chicago "C"
Faculty Athletic Rep: Jim Forde
Stadium: Memorial Auditorium (3,150)
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Concordia Volleyball
History
First year of volleyball: 1976
All-time play-off record: 3-3
Years in post-season play: 3
Last postseason appearance: 2004: Loss
to UW-La Crosse 3-1/NCAA Region Semifinals
All-time volleyball record: 435-462-2
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Women's Volleyball Staff
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Head Coach:
Tim Mosser, Starting 12th Season
Record/current school: 199-159
All-Time Record/Yrs: 199-159
MIAC Record: 78-44
Coach phone: 218-299-3520
E-Mail Address: mosser@cord.edu
Assistant Coach:
Bob Jones, 5th year
Phone: 218-299-4741
E-mail Address: jones@cord.edu
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Sports Information
S.I.D: Jim Cella
Office Ph.: 218-299-3194
Home Ph: 218-233-3698
Fax: 218-299-4189
E-Mail Address: cella@cord.edu
WWW Address: www.gocobbers.com
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2003 MIAC Standings
(Click here for complete game-by-game results)
School MIAC
Overall
St. Thomas 10-1* 24-6
Concordia 8-3#% 26-8
Bethel 7-4#
17-17
Carleton 7-4#
20-8
St. Mary's 7-4# 21-11
St. Ben's 7-4# 14-16
Macalester 6-5 19-10
Gustavus 6-5
18-10
St. Olaf 5-6
14-17
Hamline 2-9
12-15
Augsburg 1-10
3-24
St. Kate's 0-11
3-22
* Clinched MIAC Title
# Clinched MIAC Playoff Spot
% Earned Automatic Bid to the NCAA Tournament
2003 Game-by-Game
Results
(Click here for links to box scores)
Date | Opponent | Site | Time | Day/Result |
Aug. 29-30 | MSU-Moorhead Tourney | Away | TBA | Fri.-Sat. |
Aug 29 | Bemidji State | 1:00 | L 1-3 | |
Aug. 29 | Dakota Wesleyan | 6:00 | W 3-1 | |
Aug. 30 | MSU-Moorhead | 11:00 | L 2-3 | |
Aug. 30 | Valley City State | 4:00 | W 3-0 | |
Sept. 2 | UM-Morris | Away | 5:00 JV, 7:00 | W 3-1 |
Sept. 5-6 | Ithaca Tourney (NY) | Away | TBA | Fri.-Sat. |
Sept. 5 | Oswego (NY) | 3:00 | W 3-0 | |
Sept. 5 | Ithaca (NY) | 5:00 | W 3-0 | |
Sept. 6 | UC-Santa Cruz | 10:00 | W 3-0 | |
Sept. 6 | Skidmore (NY) | 12:00 | W 3-0 | |
Sept. 6 | NYU | 4:00 | L 1-3 | |
Sept. 11 | Mayville State | Home | 4:30 | W 3-1 |
Sept. 17 | Augsburg | Home | 5:00 JV, 7:30 | W 3-0 |
Sept. 19-20 | Concordia Tournament | Home | TBA | Fri.-Sat. |
Sept. 19 | Si Tanka University at Huron | 2:00 | L 0-3 | |
Sept. 19 | Minot State | 6:00 | W 3-1 | |
Sept. 20 | Finlandia | 11:00 | W 3-0 | |
Sept. 20 | Valley City State | 3:00 | W 3-0 | |
Sept. 24 | Macalester | Away | 7:00 | W 3-1 |
Sept. 26 | St. Mary's | Away | 7:30 | L 1-3 |
Sept. 27 | St. Olaf | Away | Noon | L 1-3 |
Oct. 2 | Hamline | Home | 4:30 JV, 7:00 | W 3-2 |
Oct. 8 | Bethel | Home | 6:00, 7:30 | W 3-0 |
Oct. 15 | St. Catherine | Away | 7:30 | W 3-0 |
Oct. 17 | Gustavus | Home | 6:00 JV, 7:30 | W 3-1 |
Oct. 18 | Carleton | Home | 3:00 | W 3-1 |
Oct. 22 | St. Thomas | Home | 5:00 JV, 7:30 | L 2-3 |
Oct. 24-25 | St. Ben's Tourney | Away | TBA | Fri.-Sat. |
Oct. 24 | St. Ben's | 5:00pm | W 3-0 | |
Oct. 24 | UW-Superior | 7:30pm | W 3-0 | |
Oct. 25 | Farmingdale State | 10:30am | W 3-0 | |
Oct. 25 | St. Ben's | 2:30pm | W 3-0 | |
Oct. 29 | St. Ben's | Away | 6:00 JV, 7:30 | W 3-1 |
Nov. 6 | Bethel (MIAC Semifinals) | Home | 7:30pm | W 3-0 |
Nov. 8 | Carleton (MIAC Finals) | Home | 7:00pm | W 3-0 |
Nov. 13 | Elmhurst
(IL)
NCAA Tournament First Round @ UW-La Crosse |
Away | 4:30pm | W 3-1 |
Nov. 14 | UW-La
Crosse
NCAA Tournament Regional Semifinal @ UW-La Crosse |
Away | 7:00pm | L 1-3 |
2003 Final Record: Overall 26-8-0; MIAC 8-3-0 - 2nd Place
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2004
Schedule
Date | Opponent | Site | Time | Day/Result |
Sept. 1 | MSU-Moorhead | Away | 7:00pm | Wed. |
Sept. 6 | Mayville State | Away | 5:00 JV, 7:00 | Mon. |
Sept. 10-11 | UC-Santa Cruz Tournament | Away | TBA | Fri.-Sat. |
Sept. 15 | Augsburg | Away | 7:00pm | Mon. |
Sept. 17-18 | Concordia Tourney | Home | TBA | Fri.-Sat. |
Sept. 22 | Macalester | Home | 6:00 JV, 7:30 | Wed. |
Sept. 24 | St. Olaf | Home | 7:30pm | Fri. |
Sept. 25 | St. Mary's | Home | 1:00 JV, 3:00 | Sat. |
Sept. 29 | Hamline | Away | 7:00pm | Wed. |
Oct. 5 | Bethel | Away | 7:00pm | Tue. |
Oct. 8-9 | Iowa/Minnesota Border Battle | UST/MAC | Fri.-Sat. | |
Oct. 8 | Simpson (IA) | UST | 4:00pm | Fri. |
Oct. 8 | Loras (IA) | UST | 8:00pm | Fri. |
Oct. 9 | Central (IA) | UST | 11:00am | Sat. |
Oct. 9 | Wartburg (IA) | MAC | 3:00pm | Sat. |
Oct. 13 | St. Catherine | Home | 7:00pm | Wed. |
Oct. 15 | Carleton | Away | 7:30pm | Fri. |
Oct. 16 | Gustavus | Away | 5:00pm | Sat. |
Oct. 20 | St. Thomas | Away | 7:00pm | Wed. |
Oct. 27 | St. Benedict | Home | 6:00 JV, 7:30 | Wed. |
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College
| History|
Staff | SID
| '03 MIAC Stndgs | Sch
'03
| Sch '04 | Series Records
| Team |
Returners |
Lost
| Outlook | Roster | Top
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Concordia Series Records
Against Opponents:
Opponent W
L T Series Started
MSU-Moorhead 9 37 0
1976
Augsburg 24 13 1
1976
Macalester 18 12 0
1978
St. Mary’s 21 11 0
1981
St. Olaf 12 24 0
1976
Hamline 29
8 1 1978
Bethel
17 23 0 1980
St. Kate’s 21 15 0
1978
Gustavus 21 18 0
1980
Carleton 26 11 0
1978
St. Thomas 11 23 0
1981
St. Ben’s 16 22 0
1978
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Player & Team Information
2003 Overall Record: 26-8-0
2003 MIAC Conference Record/Place:
8-3/2nd Place; MIAC Tournament Champions
Starters Returning/Lost: 5/1
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Returning Starters
Name
Yr Pos Hometown
Jackelyn Barten
Sr H Melrose, Minn. - 2003 3rd Team All-American
Amy Fitzner
Sr H Valley City, N.D.- 2003 All-Region
Jessica Walden
Sr S Hawley, Minn. - 2003 All-Region
Danielle Schmiesing Sr
H Sauk Centre, Minn.
Rebecca Shane
So H Detroit Lakes, Minn. - 2003 All-Region
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Key Losses
(Grad/Transfer/Injury/Misc.)
Name
Pos Hometown
Rhiannon Grimm
DS Hazen, N.D.
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2004 Season Outlook
and Notes:
Since bowing out of the
NCAA playoffs and capping a record-setting year in 2003, Tim Mosser
and the Concordia volleyball team have been out shopping with their newly
acquired R-E-S-P-E-C-T card. The Cobbers had four players earn all-region
honors last fall and then had junior Jacki Barten placed on the All-American
Third Team, becoming the first player in Concordia volleyball history to
earn All-American honors.
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At the start of the 2004 season, the Cobbers used their R-E-S-P-E-C-T card to garner the top spot in the MIAC preseason coaches poll and a spot in the national preseason top 25 poll. Mosser, and his group of experienced veterans, know that in order to keep getting respect they have to win games and titles the old fashioned way - they'll have to earn it.
The 2004 campaign could be the season that Mosser has waited for since four long years ago when he sported a team of all freshmen. The players that have stayed with the program have formed the backbone for the Cobbers drive towards last season's MIAC tournament championship and, hopefully, this year's goal of an unprecedented conference regular season crown. Concordia returns three seniors who were all-region last year and a fourth that was a defense stalwart as they look for the program's first MIAC regular season championship.
Unfortunately for Mosser and the Cobbers, their new-found R-E-S-P-E-C-T card also bought one unwanted item. For 2004, Concordia has been tabbed as the "team to beat" by the other coaches in the conference. In their preseason poll, the league coaches voted Concordia as the preseason favorite to win the conference title. Not only did they vote the Cobbers number one, they did so by a large margin. Concordia garnered eight first-place votes and was voted no lower than third as they finished with 17 points. The next closest team was St. Thomas who finished with 32 points and only three first-place votes. Concordia will now have to get accustomed to wearing their newly purchased wardrobe of jerseys with big targets on the back.
Individually, Concordia has four of the top players in the conference back for the upcoming season. Seniors Jacki Barten (Melrose, Minn./Melrose HS), Amy Fitzner (Valley City, N.D./Valley City HS) and Jessica Walden (were all members of the all-conference and all-region teams last fall, and Barten made the jump to the national level as she garnered All-American Third Team honors, and sophomore Rebecca Shane (Detroit Lakes, Minn./Detroit Lakes HS) who was voted the AVCA Region Freshman of the Year as well as the MIAC Rookie of the Year.
Barten finished the regular season last year with a team-high 452 kills, a .327 hitting percentage and 158 blocks. It was the third straight year that she has led the Cobbers in both categories. Her block total tied the school record for total blocks in a single season. Barten is a three-time all-conference player and is currently second on the school's all-time block list (1,040) and fifth on the all-time kills list (381). She needs 72 blocks to pass Laura Reitmeier (452) for the all-time block record and would need to have a whopping 499 kills to overtake Reitmeier for the kills record. Last year was she had high water mark for kills in a season with 452. The school record for kills in a season is held by Reitmeier, who had 487 in 1996.
Joining Barten up front for the Cobbers will be Fitzner and Shane. Fitzner is a two-time All-MIAC performer, who transferred to Concordia after her freshman season at Northwest College (Wyo.). She led the Cobbers in kills during the MIAC season in 2003 by averaging 4.03 per game. She was fifth in the league in that category. For the entire season, she finished third on the team in kills (332) and third in digs (3134). Shane had a tremendous first season in maroon and gold and will be looking to avoid the sophomore swoon. In her freshman season she was second on the team in kills (360), hitting percentage (.275) and blocks (124).
Perhaps the thread that holds the Cobber team wardrobe together the most is senior super-setter Jessica Walden. Walden has already set the school record for assists (3,251) in a career and she has been named to the all-conference team twice in her career. She finished the 2003 season with 1,142 assists - her second highest total of her career. She was the leader of the Cobber offense that finished second in the league in hitting percentage (.238), kills (15.27/game) and assists (13.34/game).
Add the skills of two other outstanding seniors up front to the mix and you have a team that is ready to take out their charge card and run up a hefty bill courtesy of MIAC opponents. Kris Sather (Sr., Fosston, Minn./Fosston HS) and Danielle Schmiesing (Sr., Sauk Centre, Minn./Sauk Centre HS) give Concordia depth and the ability to take over a game at any given moment. Sather led the team in service aces, and as the case in the MIAC tournament championship game against Carleton, can give the Cobbers instant momentum with her jump serve. Schmiesing also possesses a dangerous serve, as she finished 11th in the league in service aces per game last year.
The Cobber roster boasts six seniors on the squad this season, five of whom have been together since they arrived in the fall of 2001. They have taken Concordia to the top of the mountain in the MIAC and have gained a national reputation for the program. They would like to finish their careers off by taking two more giant steps. Their shopping list for 2004 includes a regular season championship, something no other Cobber volleyball team has accomplished, and a deep run into the NCAA tournament that would end with a final four trip to Rochester, Minn. One thing is for certain in 2004. Now that they have secured their R-E-S-P-E-C-T card, they won't leave home without it.
Volleyball News and
Notes:
Mr. 200
- Head Coach Tim Mosser
needs only one victory to become the first coach in Concordia volleyball
history to record 200 career wins. Mosser currently owns a 199-159 (.556)
in his first 11 seasons at the helm of the Cobbers. Mosser is only the
fifth coach in volleyball history for the school. The other two coaches
that were at the school longer than five seasons were Kay Peterson
and Kathy James. Peterson coached seven seasons from 1977 until
1983 and finished with 71 wins, while "Jesse" James was at Concordia from
1987 until 1992 and won 118 games. James' 1988 team still holds the record
for most wins in a season by a Cobber team. The 1988 squad finished the
year with a 31-17 mark.
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When the Going Gets Tough,
the Tough Get Going
- The Cobbers will play
their toughest non-conference schedule in recent history. The Cobbers will
open the season with NCAA Division II foe MSU-Moorhead and then play in
the UC-Santa Cruz tournament on September 10-11. Besides their usual group
of North Dakota NAIA opponents, Concordia will take part in the annual
Iowa/Minnesota Border Battle Tournament held in the first part of October
at St. Thomas and Macalester. The tournament will bring together five teams
that are currently ranked in the CSTV/AVCA preseason top 25.
Save the Best for Last
- The Cobbers will host
three of their first four conference matches at home. The MIAC regular
season title might have to wait until the final weeks of the season to
be decided. Concordia will face two of the three teams that made last year's
MIAC playoffs in the final four matches of the year. Both matches will
also be played away from the friendly walls of Memorial Auditorium. The
Cobbers will play at Carleton on Friday, October 15 and then travel to
St. Thomas on Wednesday, October 20.
Number 1 With a Bullet
- The MIAC coaches preseason
poll shakes down like this:
1. Concordia (8) - 17 pts
2. St Thomas (3) - 32 pts
3. (tie) St. Mary's and
Carleton - 42 pts
5. (tie) Gustavus and Bethel
- 72 pts
7. St Ben's (1) - 79 pts
8. Macalester - 92 pts
9. St Olaf - 97 pts
10. Hamline - 115 pts
11. Augsburg - 133 pts
12. St Catherine - 143 pts
- It is the first time in
school history that the Cobbers have been ranked number one. Last year
the Cobbers were picked to finish fifth at the beginning of the year.
Break it Down
- Roster breakdown: Of the
27 players on the Cobber preseason roster; six are seniors, eight are sophomores
and the rest (13) are freshman. There are no juniors on this year's squad.
Of the 27; 17 hail from Minnesota, eight are from North Dakota and the
other two call the Big Sky state of Montana their home.
We are Family
Jessica Walden will have
a familiar face on the team when she lines up for the Cobbers this season.
Joining Walden will be her younger sister Anna, who decided not to play
in her freshman year, but has since recanted her decision and decided to
join her sister for one last season. The younger Walden will have a chance
at starting the season as one of the team's defensive specialists.
Nationally Speaking
- Concordia moved up one
spot from the end of last season when they were ranked 25th in the final
CSTV/AVCA poll in 2003. This year they start out in the 24th spot, hoping
to climb even farther as the season rolls along. Concordia has four opponents
on their schedule who are ranked in the poll. Conference foe St. Thomas
is ranked 16th and Border Battle Tournament opponents Central (Iowa) (13),
Wartburg (15) and Simpson (19) also make an appearance in the preseason
poll. UW-La Crosse, who bounced the Cobbers from last year's NCAA tournament
is ranked 10th.
Complete 2004 Preseason
Poll
Rk School (1st Place) Total Pts
2003 Last Poll
1 Washington (Mo.) (12)
386 38-3 1
2 New York University (3) 373
40-5 2
3 Juniata (1)
371 38-1 4
4 La Verne
361 30-3 3
5 Ohio Northern
293 30-8 7
6 Emory
290 32-14 5
7 Mount St. Joseph
283 31-6 12
8 Wittenberg
275 28-7 10
9 Trinity (Texas)
274 33-5 8
10 UW-La Crosse
237 33-6 6
11-tie Cal State Hayward
236 30-5 9
11-tie UW-Whitewater
236 28-10 14
13 Central (Iowa)
213 26-10 16
14 Wisconsin-River Falls
188 35-6 11
15 Wartburg
181 30-11 13
16 St. Thomas (Minn.)
138 24-6 17
17 Linfield
102 23-4 15
18 Williams
101 35-4 18
19 Simpson
99 23-10 24
20 Pacific Lutheran
94 21-5 19
21 Elmhurst
91 29-11 22
22 Southwestern (Texas)
69 32-5 20
23 Wisconsin-Oshkosh
59 29-7 21
24 Concordia (Minn.)
55 26-8 25
25 Springfield
43 31-3 23