The list of lessons learned by the Concordia-Chicago Cougars in their first season of NCAA Division III men's volleyball has been lengthy. The experience of playing on the home floor has not been one of those lessons, but that is about to change. With the exception of a match at Dominican University and a tri-match at Aurora University, both later this month, the Cougars will play the rest of their matches on the Geiseman Gymnasium floor. The first of those eight home matches is Saturday when the Cougars (4-11, 0-6 NACC) look to avenge an earlier loss to the Concordia Wisconsin Falcons (7-8, 3-5 NACC). First serve is scheduled for 1 p.m. Live stats and video will be available at www.cucougars.com/coverage.

While it might seem that the prospect of playing a home match would be an overriding thought during the practice week, CUC head coach Rhyen Staley downplayed that idea, stating that "our concern, as it has been from the start, is that we want to get better from one match to the next. Our guys have been good about keeping that focus," although he admits that "Saturday morning, it might hit them that this match will be a little different and we don't have to get on a bus to go play."

Most of the upcoming home matches will be rematches from the past month when the Cougars played their first 15 matches in different gymnasiums. CUC played Concordia Wisconsin in CUW's Buuck Field House on Feb. 15, falling in three sets (10-25, 24-26, 21-25). "We got off to a bad start that day and mada a lot of unforced errors," said Staley. "It's imperative that we play a cleaner match if we are to beat them, and we're confident that we can."

One stat that Staley will keep a eye on is the team's record in first sets (currently 3-12), and it remains to be seen if the Cougars' home advantage will factor into that at all. "Winning set one is not a guarantee that you will win the match, but often there is a strong connection," says Staley. "I believe that if we can start winning set one on a regular basis, it will make a significant difference."