Milwaukee, Wis.- Looking to make the final playoff push, the Concordia University Chicago Cougar Volleyball team took to the court this evening against the Alverno Inferno. In need of a NACC win, the Cougars came out firing from the opening whistle to take the match in straight sets (25-20, 25-18, 25-22).
 
"This was the best energy we have brought all season," remarked head coach Troy Campbell following the match. "That gym gets loud, and it was our bench that was the loudest ones. Getting our serve rolling in the opening sets was really important. Our resiliency in coming back after falling down early in set three might be the thing I am most proud of though tonight."
 
In set one, the Cougars serving got things going in the early points. Aces by Nicoletta Crowley and Alyssa Serewicz propelled CUC to a 6-1 lead. Alverno battled back to tie the set at 16 midway through. The Cougars worked to regain the lead with a kill by Austin Thompson and an ace by Courtney Luciano which pushed the Cougar lead to 22-20. CUC put the set away late with back-to-back aces again by Serewicz and a kill by Jennifer LIvesay to take set one 25-20.
 
In set two, after battling through the early points, CUC ripped off a 6-0 run to push the lead to 12-6. The run began with a kill by Luciano, then continued with an ace and strong serving by Elise Sombke. The Inferno worked to fight back, but again it was the Cougars' serve that they couldn't handle. Shannon Stamp served six straight points that forced an Alverno timeout while pushing the Cougar lead to 20-11. CUC continued to serve strong to take set two 25-18.
 
Looking for the sweep in set three, CUC fell behind 5-0 quickly because of attack errors. They fought back though with a kill by Thompson off the right side and an ace by Alexa Lomantini to tie the set at 11. Sombke served three straight points to give CUC their first lead of the set at 14-11. CUC continued to lead at 19-16, but the Inferno were able to counter with a 5-0 run to reclaim the lead at 21-19 forcing a Cougar timeout. The Cougars answered out of the timeout with big swings by Jaylynn Johnson and Lomantini to take the lead back at 22-21 to force Alverno to take their second timeout. Sombke then served the final points for CUC as they finished off the sweep with the 25-22 set three win.
 
Stamp finished with a game high eight kills with no errors for a .533 hitting percentage. Sombke and Serewicz lead with eight digs each. The Cougars serve was a big factor in the match, finishing with 13 aces.
 
The Cougars (17-10; 4-5 NACC) will conclude the road portion of the NACC regular season tomorrow night when they take on Wisconsin Lutheran College. First serve is set for 7:00pm from Milwaukee.