Sept. 5, 2015 - Today, the Cougars hosted the annual Concordia Invitational Volleyball Tournament (CIVT). Despite strong efforts, the Cougars fell in both contests, the first to Concordia Ann Arbor 3-2 (25-20, 25-20, 23-25, 9-25, 13-15) and the second to Concordia Wisconsin 3-0 (17-25, 22-25, 32-34).

In game one of the Ann Arbor match, the Cougars came out as hot as the temperature.  A back-and-forth opening set was played well by both teams, but it would be the Cougars' aggressiveness that would pay dividends. The first-set victory for the Cougars would be capped off by a perfect tip from Jenna Helsing (Chesterfield, MI/L'Anse Creuse North) into the front corner of Concordia Ann Arbor's side of the court for the final point.

The second set followed much of the same style of play, but this time it would be Austin Thompson's (Morris, IL/Morris Community) turn to get in on the action. Thompson played a good variety of shots, but was especially able to hammer down kills off of perfectly set balls by Nicoletta Crowley (Romeoville, IL/H.S.). Thompson would lead the Cougars in kills for the match with 22, followed by Helsing's 15 kills.

Concordia Ann Arbor would win a tough played third set and take advantage of multiple Cougar errors in set four to force the decisive fifth set. It would be Concordia Ann Arbor that would be able to squeeze a few big kills in along the sideline to seal the Cougars fate.

In the second match, the Cougars would come out tough against Concordia Wisconsin. Despite the final score. the Cougars played the Falcons tough, falling in a long exciting third set by a score of 34-32. The Cougars would register seven aces in the three sets, led by Emily Marcus (Chesterton, IN/H.S.) with two.

The Cougars will have the week off before a four-match weekend at Earlham College in Richmond, IN. The first match will take place at 4 p.m. eastern time on Saturday Sept. 12..