2004 Concordia-Moorhead College Volleyball Preview

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2004 Concordia Volleyball
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2004 Concordia-Moorhead Volleyball Preview

Concordia Volleyball Home Page for 2004
See Also: 2003 Season Stats | 2003 Box Scores

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)

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

Women's Volleyball Staff

Tim Mosser needs one more victory to become the first coach in Cobber volleyball history to win 200 games.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

Key Losses (Grad/Transfer/Injury/Misc.)
Name Pos Hometown
Rhiannon Grimm DS Hazen, N.D.

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.

Amy Fitzner (#4) and Rebecca Shane (#2) are back to provide one of the toughest defense in the league.

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.

With each assist in the 2004 season, Jessica Walden adds to her school-record total.

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

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