Oct.17, 2015 - The early morning match today between the Concordia-Chicago Cougars and the Marian University Sabercats woke up the crowd quickly. The match would go all five games and when the dust settled, the Cougars would come back multiple times in the match to finally seal the deal in a 3-2 (25-22, 23-25, 22-25, 25-22, 15-13) victory.

The Cougars came out strong in the first set. Austin Thompson (Morris, IL/Morris Community) would have three aces, coupled with kills from Sarah Smith (St. Ignace, MI/LaSalle) and Mary Arredia (Franklin, Park, IL/West Leyden) jumping the Cougars out to an early 11-6 lead in a very fast paced first set. After the Marian timeout though, the Cougars would shoot themselves in the foot with three straight attack errors, allowing Marian back into the set. The teams traded attacks and fought hard in the closely played set.  CUC finished the set off with a strong kill from Thompson, who would finish the set with six kills and three aces.

Concordia looked to carry the momentum into set two, but Marian would have different plans. Marian rattled off the first four points of the set. CUC fought back to tie it up at 11-11. Marian would make their run with the score tied at 15, aided by a few attack and ball handling errors. Marian wound up with a seven-point run forcing a timeout. The Cougars battled back as they did all day with a run of their own. Thompson served five straight points, bringing the Cougars within one at 23-22. Unfortunately, Marian would be able to get the final two kills of the set to take set two.

Set three saw Marian jump out to the early lead, but Concordia charged back. Trailing 9-2, CUC crept to within one at 15-14 and then finally tie it up at 21. However, Marian's Jessica Roberts would set home the final three kills of the set to give Marian the 2-1 lead.

The intensity rose for both sides in set four. Arredia was particularly effective, contrinbuting to multiple of the Cougars' small runs in the set. The most impactful of those kills from Arredia would be a booming kill that would go off of the Marian blockers and carom up the bleachers much to the joy of the Cougar crowd. Marian wouldn't go quietly in the set, fighting back to tie it up at 19 before the Cougars would get kills from Raven Burns (Shorewood, IL/Minooka), Nicoletta Crowley (Romeoville, IL/H.S.), and Thompson to send the match into the fifth and deciding set.

Set five would be one of the hardest fought of the season for the Cougars. Both teams played the set closely, but the Cougars would be chasing Marian for most of the set. It wouldn't be until a four-point run that the Cougars would take the lead, Olivia Friedrichs (San Diego, CA/Clairemont) would have two aces coupled with kills from Arredia and Thompson to swing the momentum and lead the Cougars' way. Marian grabbed the lead one final time at 12-11 before Smith took over for CUC. With the score tied at 12, Smith sent the kill home and then add the block to put CUC on the verge of match point. The final point would be another kill from Smith to seal the hard-earned victory for the Cougars.

"We came out with great energy," said CUC head coach Troy Campbell, "but our resilience was even better. I thought our crowd was great as well. We haven't been able to find success in the fifth set. We haven't been able to get those crucial points, but Sarah Smith was able to step up and take control with those last few points."

The Cougars (9-13, 4-4 NACC) will continue their post-season push in a crucial match versus Benedictine University on Tuesday. That match is set to start in Lisle at 7 p.m.