River Forest, Ill.—The Concordia University Chicago Cougars took on Benedictine University Eagles tonight inside Geiseman Gymnasium tonight hoping to get back to over the .500 mark in conference. This home match against the Eagles was the last home competition for the Cougars before a stretch a three road matches
 
With Julia Beers back to serve, the Cougars were able to score five early points to open the match. With a score of 7-1, Benedictine took their first timeout in hopes of halting the Cougars momentum. A big kill from Stamp sent the score to 9-5, still favoring CUC. The Eagles, however, came back to tie the game up at 11-11 and eventually took the lead off of a 9-3 run. Though the Cougars showed life late in the set, they were unable to overcome the deficit and lost set one 25-17.
 
To start the second set, there was a kill from Alyssa Henline and strong defensive efforts from Kelly Gootee and Beers. After a lot of back and forth play, the second set seemed more evenly matched, with the score tied 7-7. After, Benedictine went on a 7-1 run to bring the score to 14-8. The Cougars lacked with communication late in the second set and struggled to gain the momentum they needed. Henline and Stamp both provided the Cougars with kills to keep the set alive at a score of 24-17. Along with an ace from Alexa Lomantini, the Cougars capitalized off of multiple Benedictine defensive mistakes, but ended up falling 25-19, giving Benedictine the 2-0 match lead.
 
Beginning the third set, the Cougars had kills from Stamp, Henline, and two from Julia Spitelli to keep CUC tied with Benedictine 5-5. Jaida Carr was able to tally her first kill of the game along with two more from Stamp made the score 13-10 in favor of the Eagles. On a long rally with multiple hard hits from CUC, the Cougars were able to take the point, giving the team some momentum late in the third. Since being down 18-14, the Cougars went on an 7-3 run, tying the game at 21-21, forcing a Benedictine time out. A big block from Stamp and Tori Steele made the score 23-22. The Eagles took set three 25-23 and the match 3-0.
 
The Cougars will hit the road for three straight road matches, beginning on Friday night when they head to Rockford. Opening serve is set for 7:00pm.