Seniors' Career Totals Lead To Win

ST. PAUL, Minn. (9/03/16)—Concordia's two lone seniors put up career-high stat totals in the final match of the Northwestern Invite to help the Cobbers earn a thrilling five-set win over Coe.

Concordia earned its first set win of the year in their opening match on Day 2 and then used that momentum to grind out the season-opening victory.

Seniors Jena Klaphake and Mandy Mercil led by example in the win over the Kohawks as Klaphake came away with a career-high 48 assists and Mercil recorded a career-high 30 digs.     

The young Cobbers struggled on Friday in the opening day of the tournament but then gradually gained the confidence needed to post a 25-22, 25-21, 24-26, 18-25, 16-14 win over the Kohawks. Concordia overcame a 4-1 deficit in the final set to pick up the initial win of the year.

Playing with mostly newcomers, Concordia dropped its first two matches of the year on Friday. The Cobbers lost 29-27, 25-21, 25-23 in the opener against Loras and then fell 25-16, 25-13, 26-24 to No.23-ranked Northwestern (Minn.).

Emily Friedrich and Haley Cuppett had 11 kills each to lead Concordia against Loras. Klaphake and  Mercil combined for 37 assists while junior transfer Stephanie Baker had a match-high 24 digs.

Friedrich was one kill shy of a double-double against the nationally ranked Eagles. She finished with nine winners and 10 digs. Klaphake had a team-high 16 assists and Baker recorded 13 digs. Lydia Hansen had a match-high five blocks on the front line.

Concordia once again couldn't come away with wins in close sets in the first match on Saturday against Westminster. The Cobbers lost the first two sets by two points each at 25-23 and 27-25. CC then responded with a resounding 25-20 victory in the third before losing 25-18 in the fourth. Concordia led 22-21 and 23-22 in the first set but conceded three straight points to lose 25-23. They had a set point in the second bout but couldn't finish and lost in extra points 27-25.

Mercil and Cuppett had nine kills each to lead the CC offense. Klaphake came away with a team-high 26 assists and Baker had 12 digs. Hansen continued her stellar play at the net by putting up six blocks.

The Cobbers continued to improve over the weekend and it showed in the finale. Concordia bolted to a 2-0 lead but then watched Coe grab the next two sets. The Cobbers trailed 4-1 to start the decisive fifth set but then went on a 4-1 run of their own to tie the set at 5-5. The teams would stay within two points of one another until the match was decided. The turning point came with CC trailing 11-9. Head coach Tim Mosser took a timeout and Concordia responded with a kill from Friedrich. Coe won the next point but then a Hansen kill and a Kohawk attack error evened the score at 12-12.

The Cobbers won the match on a pair of attack errors by the Kohawks.

Friedrich finished with a career-high 22 kills for the Cobbers. She was one of three CC players to factor in a double-digit kill total. Freshman Brianna Carney had 11 winners and Cuppett added 10. Klaphake came up with a career-high 48 assists. Her previous career best came last year when she posted 43 helpers against St. Catherine. Mercil also put up a career-high stat total. She record 30 digs in the match. Four other CC players had at least 10 digs in the match with Baker adding 23.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TIME: Mercil used her career-high dig total in the finale to earn a spot on the All-Tournament Team. She finished the weekend with 59 digs, 41 assists, 24 kills and five blocks.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM:
Lindsey Peterson (UNW)
Shanay Gonder (UNW)
Ashley Pratt  (UW-Stout)
Jessica DuVal (UW-Stout)
Macey Terhell (Augsburg)
Hannah Reese (Coe)  
Therese Schultz (Loras)
Hannah Marshall (Westminster)
Mandy Mercil (Concordia)
Amanda Belden (St. Scholastica)

TOURNAMENT TOTALS: Friedrich led Concordia in kills for the four matches. She had 49 winners. Klaphake came away with 109 assists and 29 digs. Hansen led the team in blocks with 14 and Baker had a team-high 72 digs.      

WHAT'S NEXT: Concordia will host its home opener on Wednesday, Sept. 7 at 7 p.m. when they square off against Valley City State. The Cobbers beat the Vikings 3-2 in last season's season opener. VCSU is also 1-3 on the season.