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A Third Set to Build On

Concordia pulled off a 25-23 third-set win against No. 23-ranked St. Thomas but was unable to dig out of a 2-0 hole and lost 3-1 (25-16, 25-12, 23-25, 25-17) in the conference opener for both teams.

The Cobbers fall for the third straight match and are now 1-4 on the year. The Tommies win for the eighth straight time and are now 8-1. The set win marks only the second time in the last eight matches that the Tommies have dropped a set.  

The match was the first in a week for the Cobbers and they showed their early-season jitters as they fell behind 6-1 in the opening set. The Tommies pushed the margin to 10 points at 21-11 and then won by nine in the first set.

The second set was more of the same with UST pulling away at 15-5 and then upped the lead to 20-6 before completing the 13-point win.

Concordia found its confidence in the third set when they rattled off eight straight points to turn a 5-3 deficit into an 11-5 lead. The Cobbers would allow UST to get to within two points on four different occasions late in the match but went ahead 24-22 and then closed out the set on a kill by Emily Friedrich when they were clinging to a one-point lead at 24-23.

The Cobbers entertained ideas of evening the match at 2-2 but a nine-point run by the Tommies after the score was tied at 10-10 turned a close set into a 19-10 margin.

Concordia had three players with double-digit kill totals. Friedrich and Haley Cuppett each had 10 winners while Brianna Carney came away with a match-high 11 kills.

Senior Stephanie Baker had 10 digs and Jill Klaphake led CC with 19 assists.