September 16, 2016- The Concordia University Chicago Cougars have had a long road trip to begin the 2016 season. They would finally return to Geisman Gymnasium in front of a healthy Cougar crowd. The Cougars and the Robert Morris Eagles battled in a very warm gymnasium. The Cougars jumped out to leads in three of the four sets, but the Eagles proved to be too much, spoiling the home opener in four sets (25-27, 24-26, 27-25, 21-25).
 
In set one, CUC came out using their defensive play to jump out early. The blocking ability of Jaylynn Johnson and Arendia Ruiter got the Cougars rolling early to a 5-3 lead. Robert Morris battled back, using the Cougar's struggles serving to tie the set at ten. CUC briefly fell behind but a swing by Sarah Smith into the back corner tied the set. The Eagles after the 11-11 tie used multiple Cougar errors to grab a 16-12 lead forcing a CUC timeout.  Coming out of the timeout, Austin Thompson gave the CUC energy with a big kill off the left side. The kill started a run for CUC. A Jaylynn Johnson solo block capped the run and tied the set at 16. The Cougars athleticism and ability to block continued to show for points, including a combo block by Johnson and Spitz that tied the set at 18. Unfortunately the Eagles rattled off three straight points making it 21-18 Eagles and forcing the second CUC timeout. CUC battled back to get within 24-23 getting kills from Thompson and Ruiter forcing an Eagle timeout. CUC tied it up directly after the timeout with a double block to tie the set at 24. The set would go into extra points and finally go to the Eagles 27-25.

In set two, CUC jumped out 2-0 with back-to-back kills by Thompson and Smith.  Ruiter continued to help build the CUC lead, and the Cougars used multiple errors by the Eagles to grow the lead to 8-3. The Eagles slowly built their way back to as close as 12-10, but a Thompson kill kept the Cougars in the lead. The teams continued to trade points through the middle points with the Eagles slowly gaining ground to finally take a 18-17 lead on CUC, forcing a Cougar timeout. After growing the lead to 19, back-to-back attack errors by Robert Morris tied the set. Robert Morris rattled of three straight points to make it 23-20 forcing a CUC timeout. CUC continued to fight with three points out of the timeout forcing an Eagle timeout with the set tied at 23. A solo block by Smith gave CUC the set point, but three straight points by the Eagles would put CUC in a two set hole falling 26-24 in set two.

In set three, the two teams traded points early in the set, but Ruiter got Geisman rocking with a kill that ended up  15 rows back in the bleachers making it 8-4 CUC. CUC built the lead to 10-5 with a big swing by Johnson. The Cougars and Eagles continued to battle even with CUC maintaining the lead. A service ace by Nicoletta Crowley expanded the Cougar lead to 17-10 getting late in the set.  The Cougars continued to pressure with a kills from Raven Burns and Ruiter. The Eagles refused to go away in the set closing the gap to 19-16 forcing a CUC timeout. Burns continued to attack in the set extending the lead to three with her fifth kill. The Eagles fought back to tie the match at 21, but Ruiter gave CUC the lead with another booming kill. Alyssa Serewicz got her first kill at a critical time to make it 23-21. Robert Morris used multiple Cougar errors to get to match point, but a kill by Johnson drove the third set into extra points.  A service ace by Hannah Johnson got CUC within a point of taking the third set. Smith brought the Cougar faithful to their feet and forced a fourth set.

In set four, the Eagles would jump out to a 8-0 lead, but CUC fought back with a run of their own with kills from Smith and Ruiter. CUC got within 10-8 and forced an Eagle timeout with a dual block.  Both teams continued to fight in the set. Errors continued to play a factor in the match. CUC continued working the comeback to get within 16-15. CUC continued to stay within a point, till a three point run by the Eagles expanded the lead to 22-18 forcing a second Cougar timeout.  Ruiter ended the run with a nice touch shot. The Eagles lead was too much to overcome, as they took the set 25-21.

Thompson and Ruiter led the Cougars with 11 kills each. Crowley finished with 29 assists. Thompson and Courtney Luciano led the team with 16 digs each. The big hindrance for CUC would prove to be 19 service errors in the match.

The Cougars now ready themselves for NACC play. They head to Rockford to take on the Regents on Wednesday with first serve scheduled for 7:00pm