Oct. 4, 2013 - The Cougars met Concordia University Wisconsin tonight at Geiseman Gymnasium as part of CUC's Homecoming Weekend. Energized by the rivalry game as well as a boisterous home crowd, the Cougars got the evening off to a fine start with a 25-22 win in set one. However, the Falcons wrested control away from the Cougars in the second set and went on to win the next three sets by scores of 25-21, 25-15 and 25-23.
The first set was won by CUC on the strength of 17 kills. Kristin Allen (Green Valley, IL/Illini Central) was the main catalyst, racking up eight kills and a .636 attack. Middle hitter Bianca Gordon (Milwaukee, WI/Milwaukee Lutheran) chipped in with four kills and a .667 as CUC took the lead early and held off a late Falcon charge.
In set two, the Cougars battled through some rough stretches and tied the set 21-21 on Gordon's kill. But Britta Duchow's kill gave the visitors the lead, and Hannah Griffiths scored CUW's next two points. A serving ace closed out the 4-0 run and tied the match at 1-1.
Set three was tied at 10-10 when Gabrielle Van Beaver's kill gave the lead back to CUW. Lauren Gonring then served the next six points to put the Cougars in a hole which they could not overcome.
The Cougars put together a spirited run in set four looking to force a deciding fifth set. Danielle Sisco (Park Ridge, IL/Resurrection) gave the Cougars a 19-17 lead with her fifth kill of the match. However, a couple of attack errors allowed the Falcons to slip back into the match. The Cougars grabbed their final lead at 23-22, but Griffiths knocked out the next two kills for a one-point lead. A hitting error then ended the match, giving the Falcons the 3-1 victory.
Griffiths led all players with 17 kills (.429) and 17 digs. The visitors also had solid contributions from Britta Duchow (eight kills) and Gabrielle Van Beaver (six kills, five blocks). Concordia-Chicago was led by Allen's 14 kills (.323) which tied her career-high from last season. Gordon added 11 kills (.364) and four blocks, and Katie Hannon (Chicago, IL/Queen of Peace) had eight kills and 13 digs. Setter Jenna Boggs (South Beloit, IL/Hononegah) handed out 35 assists and recorded a team-leading 14 digs.
The Cougars (3-11, 1-2 NACC) will play the second of their back-to-back matches on Saturday night at 6:00 when they take on the Milwaukee School of Engineering at MSOE's Kern Center.
