Welcome to the second season! Tonight’s MIAC semifinal match starts the postseason run for the Cobbers. Concordia won the last 11 matches of the
regular season and did not lose in the month of October. CC’s last loss came on Sept. 21 at Bethel. The Cobbers tied for the MIAC regular-season championship with a 10-1 conference record. It is their second regular-season title in program history. They also won the championship in 2006 when they went on to also claim the conference tournament title. Concordia is currently ranked No.8 in the latest AVCA Division III n
ational rankings. It is the highest they have been ranked all year and marks the fifth straight week they have been ranked in the top 10.
St. Ben’s enters tonight’s match after having dispatched Gustavus 3-1 in the MIAC quarterfinals on Tuesday. The Blazers are 18-11 on the season and are making their 11th straight conference tournament appearance. This year’s St. Ben’s team has a decided youthful look. CSB has 10 freshmen on the roster and two are in the top 10 of the MIAC in statistical categories.
Fans can follow the action on the web by going to the live broadcasts link at the bottom of the athletic website: Concordia vs St. Ben’s Live Video/Stats
Cobber Volleyball Matchday Links
- Complete Cobber Gameday Preview (pdf)
- Concordia Volleyball Page
- St. Ben’s Volleyball Page
- Concordia vs. St. Ben’s 2011 Match Recaps – Sept. 2 | Oct. 29
- Last Match – Cobber Match Recap vs. St. Ben’s
- LastMatch – St. Ben’s Match Recap vs. Gustavus
- Cobber 2011 Season Stats
- St. Ben’s 2011 Season Stats
- Cobber NCAA Stats Team/Individual Rankings
- St. Ben’s NCAA Stats Team/Individual Rankings
- AVCA Division III National Rankings
- NCAA Central Region Rankings
- MIAC Volleyball Standings and Stats
Cobber Head Coach Tim Mosser Video Preview
Cobber Volleyball Matchday Preview
#4 College of St. Benedict (18-11/8-3 MIAC)
at
#1 Concordia College (23-3/10-1 MIAC)
November 3, 2011
Memorial Auditorium
Moorhead, Minn.
GAME TIME: 7 p.m.
SERIES: St. Ben’s leads 28-22-0
SERIES STARTED: 1978
SERIES SYNOPSIS: The Cobbers ended a five-match losing streak at the hands of the Blazers when they posted a 3-1 win at home last season. CC has now won three straight over CSB including a pair of wins this year. The last time that Concordia beat the Blazers before last year was in 2006 in the championship match of the MIAC Tournament…the two teams have hooked up in the playoffs in three of the last five years. In 2009 and 2007 CSB prevailed in the league semifinals and in 2008 St. Ben’s won 3-1 in the NCAA Tournament Regional Final…Concordia owns a 7-6 mark against St. Ben’s in the 13 matches played in Memorial Auditorium since 1990. CC has prevailed in seven of the past eight played in Moorhead…head coach Tim Mosser is 17-17 lifetime against St. Ben’s.
EARLIER THIS YEAR: The teams have played twice in the 2011 season with Concordia coming out on top in both matches. They first hooked up in the very first tournament of the year at the UW-Eau Claire Invitational. The Cobbers came away with a 3-1 (25-18, 25-17, 23-25, 25-23) win in the second match of the tournament. Concordia hit .331 for the four-game match and came up with 13 blocks. Katie Vohnoutka had a team-high 19 kills to go along with five blocks. She was one of three CC players to have five blocks in the match. Ashley Beseman and Alison Bruggeman also had five stops at the net. Jenna Green had 15 kills and 29 digs while setter Amy Sykora had 37 assists. St. Ben’s hit .209 for the match and was led by Chelsie Sobieck who had 19 kills. Chelsea Rachel had 30 digs and Taya Kockelman chipped in 24 assists.
The second match was on Saturday in the last regular-season match of the year. The Cobbers had to rally from a 2-1 deficit to scratch out a 3-2 (23-25,25-12,21-25,25-20,15-7) victory in St. Joseph. St. Ben’s won the first set of the match 25-23 but then CC won nine of the first 12 points in the second and went on to a commanding 25-12 win.The momentum of the match turned again midway through the third set. With Concordia leading 15-9, the Blazers won six straight points and tied the score at 15-15. The teams then traded points until 20-20 when CSB won four straight and finished off the set by winning five of the final six points. The Cobbers finally grabbed firm control of the match, and the MIAC title, midway through the fourth set. Leading 14-12, Concordia went on one of their patented mid-set runs and ran off five straight points. They would never let the Blazers get to within three points and won 25-20. The energy carried into the fifth, and final, set as CC bolted to a 5-1 lead. CSB rallied and got as close as two points at 8-6 but then Concordia claimed the match by winning seven of the final eight points.
Concordia hit .235 for the match which included a .500 mark in the second set and a .389 clip when the match was on the line in the fifth set. The Cobber defense limited St. Ben’s to a .115 attack percentage for the match.
Green came away with a match-high 22 kills for the Cobbers. She also had 14 digs. Vohnoutka added 12 kills and three blocks. Beseman once again provided clutch points in a big match. She tied a career high with six blocks and added four kills. Sykora had a match-high 45 assists. It is the sixth time this season she has had at least 40 helpers in a single match. Defensive specialist Rachel Wiinanen came away with a match-high 23 digs, only the second time in her career that she has had more than 20 digs in a match. Freshman Kelly Reed had five blocks and eight kills and Danelle Loomis came away with 14 digs.
St. Ben’s had three players with more than 10 kills in the match and was led by Sobieck who had a team-high 19 winners to go along with 16 assists. Rachel had 21 digs and Kockelman added 43 assists.
Matchday Tipoff
(What you need to know about Thursday’s Concordia/St. Ben’s match-up)
Cobber Notes
- Concordia won the last 11 matches of the regular season and did not lose in the month of October. CC’s last loss came on Sept. 21 at Bethel
- The Cobbers have enjoyed another outstanding year at home. Concordia is 8-0 at home this season and 16-1 in the past two seasons
- The Cobbers are making their 11th straight MIAC playoff appearance. They have been to every single conference tourney since the league adopted the single elimination in 2001
- CC is 10-7 in their 10 MIAC playoff appearances. That includes an 8-2 mark at home in the conference tourney. CC is 8-0 at home against any MIAC school not named St. Olaf
- The Cobbers are 3-4 in the MIAC semifinals. In those seven semifinal matches they are 3-0 at home and 0-4 on the road.
- Concordia is 3-2 against St. Ben’s in the league playoffs. The home team has won all five matches between the schools. CC beat CSB in 2002, 2004 & 2006 while the Blazers prevailed in 2002 & 2009
- The Cobbers have had 19 of their 26 matches settled in three sets. CC is 18-1 in those 19 matches
- Concordia moved up to No.8 in the latest AVCA Division III national rankings this week. It is the highest they have been ranked all season. They have now been ranked in the top 10 of the country for five straight weeks.
- Senior Jenna Green has a team-leading 358 kills and 380 digs on the year. She needs 42 kills and 20 digs to become the first player in school history to record 400 kills and 400 digs in a single season.
- Green is currently fifth on the school’s all-time kill list (1307) and continues to add to her school-record dig total (1414). She is also No.1 on the school’s all-time list of attack attempts (4,112))
- Green led the MIAC in kills during the conference regular season. She had 152 kills and averaged 4.11 per set. Green was also ninth in digs (4.14)
- Katie Vohnoutka led the MIAC in hitting percentage (.379) and was third in blocks (1.22/s)
- Vohnoutka recently moved into the Cobber top 10 list for career blocks. She now has 282 total blocks and needs 16 more to move ionto ninth place. She is also ninth in block assists (191)and 10th in solo blocks (91). Vohnoutka is seventh in program history in kills (1212).
- Amy Sykora continues to move closer to thye No.2 spot on the school’s all-time assist list. She has 2,942 career assists and needs 98 more to surpass Marsha Suko (1994-96). She only needs 58 to become only the third player in program history to record 3000 career assists.
- Sykora was third in the MIAC in assists per set this season (9.81)
- Junior Danelle Loomis led the MIAC in total service aces in conference matches (19)
Blazer Notes
- Like the Cobbers, St. Ben’s is making their 11th straight MIAC playoff appearance. The Blazers are 10-9 in the conference tournament, including Tuesday’s 3-1 win over Gustavus. The strange fact about CSB in the league playoffs is that all nine losses have come on the road. St. Ben’s is 3-9 away from home in the MIAC postseason. The Blazers are also 4-2 in semifinal match with two of their three road wins coming in the semifinals
- The Blazers lived up to their MIAC Preseason Coaches’ Poll expectation. The conference coaches picked CSB to finish fourth. CSB technically tied for third but is the No.4 seed for the playoffs
- St. Ben’s snapped a two-match losing streak with their win over the Gusties. The Blazers are 5-5 in their last 10 matches
- CSB was 7-2 at home in 2011 and 11-9 on the road. They were also 5-1 on the road in the MIAC regular season
- St. Ben’s was 4-2 in matches that went to five sets
- St. Ben’s had a pair of players earn MIAC Player of the Week honors. Chelsea Rachel was named the MIAC Setter of the Week on Oct. 24 and Lexi Rinde earned Hitter of the Week honors on Sept. 19
- The Blazers led the league in kills (13.48/s) and assists (12.36/s) in conference matches. They were also third in hitting percentage (.204)
- Freshman Alexa Rinde was third in the MIAC in hitting percentage (.289). She was also fourth in kills per set (3.51). Rinde has had at least 10 kills in nine of the last 12 matches. She had a season-high 22 winners against St. Mary’s
- Chelsie Sobieck was seventh in the MIAC in kills per set (3.28). She had at least 10 kills in 21 of their 29 matches and had a season-high 22 against UW-Eau Claire. She had 19 kills in both previous matches against the Cobbers
- The Blazers have another freshman in the top 10 of the MIAC. Setter Taya Kockelman was eighth in the MIAC in assists per set (7.84). She has 771 asists on the year and had a season-high 45 helpers against St. Kate’s
