Sept. 16, 2014 - An enthusiastic crowd welcomed the Concordia-Chicago volleyball team as they played their first home match of the season at Geiseman Gymnasium after 11 straight road matches to start the season. The Benedictine University Eagles provided the opposition, and they got the early jump on the home team. The Cougars rallied in taking set three but were unable to keep momentum rolling, and they eventually lost in four sets (21-25, 23-25, 25-21, 18-25).

In set one, the Cougars took a 9-4 lead before the Eagles battled back thanks to some CUC attack errors. The set stayed close, and CUC trailed by only 17-16 before Benedictine put together a 5-1 run to take control.

The Cougars fell behind 6-1 in set two and later trailed 16-8 before mounting a fierce charge. Mary Arredia (Franklin Park, IL/West Leyden) knocked down a few kills, and Olivia Friedrichs (San Diego, CA/Clairemont) and Angela Hennig (Springfield, IL/Springfield Lutheran) riddled the Eagles' back row with a few well-placed serves. When Cortney Kugath (Belvidere, IL/H.S.) also aced the Eagles, the Cougars led 23-20 and appeared in position to tie up the match. But Keriann Groen's kill got the ball back to Benedictine, and a pair of aces knotted the score. A CUC attack error and a ball-handling error made it a 5-0 closing run by the Eagles, and the visitors suddenly had a firm 2-0 lead in the match.

Buoyed by the home crowd, the Cougars would not go down without a fight. Trailing 14-12, a kill by Meghan O'Hara (Sheffield Village, OH/Lutheran West) and three straight from Kaylyn Anderson (East Chicago, IN/Whiting) shot the Cougars into the lead. Benedictine came back to tie at 18-18, but Austin Thompson's (Morris, IL/Morris Community) kill and two aces by Anderson put the Cougars into the lead to stay. Another ace by Brittany Schuld (Chicago, IL/Walther Lutheran) helped seal the deal as CUC stayed alive in the match.

"I love how we responded in set three," said CUC first-year head coach Troy Campbell. "We battled really hard, and Brittany did a nice job giving us a spark at the end to put us over the top."

In set four, the Eagles ended any thoughts of a home team comeback by taking a 10-5 lead. The visitors extended the lead to as much as nine points (18-9) before closing out the conference opener for both teams.

"Towards the end, we didn't seem to have anything left in the tank, emotionally speaking," said Campbell. "We played with a lot of heart, now we have to see if we can sustain that over the course of an entire match."

Anderson heated up in sets three and four to top the Cougars' attack with 15 kills. She was followed by Thompson with eight kills and Arredia with six. Jackie Bartnicki (Chicago, IL/Guerin Prep) handed out 25 assists to keep the offense flowing.
The Cougars' serving game racked up 13 aces with nine different players recording at least one, but the team was also guilty of 13 serving errors.

Benedictine (3-9, 1-0 NACC) was led by Beckie Whitmarsh with 12 kills and Erin Wiegand with nine. The Eagles' blocking ability at the net was also a big factor in the match as they were credited with 10 blocks. Keriann Groen led the way with six block assists.

Concordia-Chicago (3-9, 0-1 NACC) will have some time off before returning to action next Tuesday, Sept. 23 at North Central College in Naperville.