RIVER FOREST, ILL. — Coming off a 3-0 conference loss on Thursday, the Concordia University Chicago (CUC) women's volleyball team (8-8, 1-3) took up action on Saturday afternoon when they hosted the St. Norbert College (SNC) Green Knights (9-10, 3-1). After the team split the first two sets, SNC took the final two sets of the match to secure themselves a 3-1 victory. 

-Inside the Box Score

• Lili Hunt (Greenfield, Ind.) and Brooke Christensen (Blaine, Minn.) tied for the team lead in kills with 12 each. Hunt also added three blocks to her total. 

• Malainna Adler (Fenton, Mo.) secured a double-double with 25 assists and 12 digs. 

• Along with Adler, Bethany Roethel (Westby, Wis.) and Shaira Marin (Rio Grande, Puerto Rico) were also in double-digit digs with 19 and 12 respectively. 

-How It Happened
 

First Set

SNC jumped out to an early 4-1 lead in the first set, but a 6-1 CUC run, highlighted by a pair of Christensen kills, put the Cougars in front 7-5. After the teams traded points, the Green Knights utilized a six-point run to take a commanding 12-8 lead. 

 

Concordia would get a pair of points back, but three more consecutive scores from the visitors set their lead at 15-10, the biggest lead of the afternoon up to that point. Just as it looked like SNC started pulling away however, the Cougars took seven of the next eight points to regain the lead, 17-16, and force a Green Knights timeout.

 

Following the timeout, both teams scored a point to make it 18-17 in favor of CUC. SNC turned it on from here on out however, going on a six-point run to come within two of set-point. The Cougars got one back thanks to a Christensen kill, but the final two points of set one belonged to the Green Knights, who clinched the set 25-19 to take a 1-0 match lead. 

 

Second Set

Set two started as a back and forth affair, with the two teams slowly working their way up to a 7-5 score in favor of Concordia. Then the first major run of the set came as SNC picked up four straight points to jump ahead 9-7. 

 

The Cougars would not stay down for long, taking four of the next five points to retake the lead, 11-10. At this point, the two squads went back and forth again, with no team scoring more than two points in a row until it was 16-14 with the Green Knights in front. 

 

Looking to avoid going into a 2-0 hole in the match, CUC rattled off five straight scores to make 19-16 in their favor. Neva Foster (Parker, Colo.) had two kills during this stretch, and Eve Dicken (St. Louis, Mo.) had two block assists. 

 

Again, the teams traded points until the scoreboard read 22-19, CUC. The Cougars tacked on another point to make it 23-19, but SNC would score the next two to pull within two. Concordia then quickly shut the door on a possible comeback, taking the next pair of points and winning set two 25-21, evening up the match at one set apiece. 

 

Third Set

The third set was once again close to start, with the Green Knights working their way up to a 4-3 lead. SNC found their groove after this however, scoring four straight points before the Cougars could get one back. The Green Knights then dropped three more consecutive points to increase their lead to 11-4. 

 

A Green Knight service error stopped their own run, but Concordia then served up an error of their own, giving the serve right back to SNC. The deficit stayed roughly the same until the scoreboard read 15-8. Back-to-back Cougar points brought them within five, 15-10, but four straight out of the Green Knights increased their lead to nine, 19-10. 

 

CUC scored off a Christensen kill to set the score at 19-11, but the Cougars offered little more in resistance to the Green Knights, dropping six of the next seven points to lose set three and fall in a 2-1 deficit in the match. 

 

Fourth Set

Fighting for their match lives, the Cougars started off set four with a point off a Hunt kill, but the Green Knights quickly knotted the match up on the next point. Ties were also found at 2-2 and 3-3 before SNC went on a 3-0 run to take a 6-3 lead. 

 

Two straight scores from the Cougars, both of which were Dicken kills, brought CUC back within one, but the Green Knights always found a way to get their lead back up to two until a three point streak upped the Knights's lead to 11-7. 

 

Consecutive points from CUC brought the Cougars back within one, 14-13. At least it did until the Green Knights produced five straight points to take a commanding 19-13 lead. A trio of scores cut the Cougars's deficit to three, but SNC got back on the board to hit the 20-point mark. 

 

The deficit was shrunk to three at 21-18, but three of the next four points belonged to SNC, bringing them to match point, 24-19. Concordia was not quite done however, grabbing two more points to make it 24-21. However, one final kill from the Green Knights sealed the deal, clinching the set 25-21 and the match 3-1.

 

-Up Next

CUC gets a lengthy break now until Thursday, Oct. 10, where the Cougars look to rebound with a 7 p.m. match at Edgewood College, the reigning NACC champions. Coverage for the match can be found at cucougars.com.