Cobber sophomore Leslie Olson goes for the block during Concordia's 3-1 loss to No.6-ranked St. Thomas on Saturday.

A Terrific National Tilt!

 

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MOORHEAD, Minn. (9/26/09)-- In a match that was fitting for a pair of nationally ranked teams, No.17-ranked Concordia fell to No.6-ranked St. Thomas 3-1 (25-18, 20-25, 25-15, 25-23) in Moorhead on Saturday. The two teams went back-and-forth and produced many points that featured long rallies and terrific plays by outstanding players. In the end it was the experience of the Tommies that came up with the key points at the critical time.

The loss drops the Cobbers' season record to 6-4 with all four losses coming against teams ranked in the top 20 of the country. CC is now 2-1 in the MIAC. St. Thomas improves to 12-2 on the season and is now 3-0 in conference play. The Tommies have now won 33 consecutive matches against conference opponents. Concordia is the last team to beat the Tommies when they posted a 3-0 win back in the MIAC semifinals in 2006.

St. Thomas looked as if it would run away with the match after sprinting to a 25-18 win in game 1. The Cobbers then rallied in the middle of game 2 when they went on a 5-0 run after the game was tied at 12-12. That five-point margin would stand up as CC went on to win game 2 25-20.

The third game was all UST as they went out to a 12-3 lead and then pulled away in the end after Concordia had cut the margin to 18-12.

The fourth game was a game that could have been played in the regionals of the NCAA Tournament. Both teams played at a higher level and pushed each other to make play after play. Neither team had more than a three-point lead for the entire game. With the score tied at 20-20, UST was able to grab the next two points and then hold off CC when they cut the margin to 24-23.

For the match, St. Thomas had an attacking percentage of .173 while Concordia was close behind at .164. The Tommies had 53 total kills as compared to 51 for the Cobbers. UST also had a slim 90-85 advantage in digs for the match.

Katie Vohnoutka had a match-high 19 kills for the Cobbers while fellow sophomore Jenna Green added 15. The two have now had at least 25 kills in three consecutive matches and in five of the last eight. Green also recorded a team-high 21 digs and four blocks. Vohnoutka added 10 digs and one block. Amy Sykora had 33 assists for the Cobbers offense and Ashley Beseman came away with a match-high five blocks.

The Tommies were led by Kyley Crotty who had 14 kills and 13 digs. Tori Jones was the only other UST player with more than eight kills on the day. She finished with 11 winners and two blocks. Kaitlin Wachter had a match-high 24 digs for the Tommies and junior All-American Emily Foster had another 40-assist match - posting 42 helpers for the match.

Concordia will stay at home for their next match when they host Macalester on Tuesday, Sept. 29 at 7 p.m.