Concordia University Chicago Athletics

Madison, Wis. - The Concordia University Chicago Cougars traveled to Madison Wisconsin to take on the Edgewood College Eagles for another round of conference play. The Eagles took all three sets winning 3-0.

Inside the Box Score:

• Brooke Christensen (Blaine, Minn.) and Lili Hunt (Greenfield, Ind.) led the Cougars in kills. Christensen had 8 and Hunt had 7.
• Malainna Adler (Fenton, Mo.) had 23 assists on the night.
• Bethany Roethel (Westby, Wis.) and Shaira Marin (Rio Grande, Puerto Rico) led in digs on the night. Roethel contributed 15 digs while Marin had 11.

Here's What Happened

Set One

The Cougars started off set one hot, led by Neva Foster (Parker, Colo.), Hunt, and Christensen each with their own respective kills. The score was 3-1 in favor of the Cougars. However, there was a major momentum change, where the Eagles went on a nine-point run due to attack errors from the Cougars, where the score was 10-3, now in favor of the Eagles. Finally able to side out and get a kill for the Cougars was Hunt, but the Cougars had a long way to go. The Cougars did just that as a few plays later they were able to go on a 5-point kill streak led by Hunt, Jessalyne Perkins (Chicago, Ill.), and Christensen. The score was now 14-10, still in favor of the Cougars, but the lead by the Eagles was shrunk tremendously. The Cougars and Eagles traded points until the score was 22-16 in favor of the Eagles, forcing the Cougars into their first timeout of the set. Out of timeout, the Cougars were on fire. Marin got back-to-back service aces, and then Harmonie Cooper had a huge block, which brought the score to 23-29, still in favor of the Eagles. The Cougars battled as much as they could, adding one more kill from Christensen, but the Eagles took set one with a final score of 25-21.

Set Two

The Cougars started set two with two consecutive kills, one from Christensen and one for Hunt. This made the score 2-0 in favor of the Cougars. From there, the Eagles took charge of the court and went on an 11-point run where a kill from Christensen stopped their run. The Eagles took the lead, where the score was 11-2. The Eagles would continue their dominance, only allowing three kills from Cougar players Christensen and Foster. At this point in the set the score was 15-5, in favor of the Eagles. Slowly but surely, the Cougars tried to claw away at the point differentiation. Adler contributed an ace, and Foster and Christensen added kills bringing the Cougar score up 10. This made the Eagles only lead by seven. The Cougars went on a four-point run attempting to chip away at the lead but the Eagles took charge yet again. Unfortunately for the Cougars, the Eagles remained ahead in the set and took set two with a final score of 25-15. The Eagles were now up 2-0.

Set Three

The start of set three showed a trade of points between the two teams until the Eagles went on a run of six points making the score 9-4 in favor of the Eagles. The Eagles suffered a service error, but gained their momentum right back and we saw another run from the Eagles. This run consisted of nine points and would force the Cougars into a timeout. The score sat at 18-5 in favor of the Eagles at the timeout. Akasia Brown (Addison, Ill.) and Perkins were able to shake up the momentum of the Eagles by adding a kill and ace for the Cougars, but the lead by the Eagles proved too strong to come back. The Eagles took set three 25-13 and took the game 3-0.

What's Next

The Cougars will be back on the road and back in Wisconsin on Saturday, October 12th to compete against Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) in some more NACC action. First serve is set for 12:00 pm. Coverage for all things CUC women's volleyball can be found at cucougars.com.