Falcons drops matches against Benedictine, Fontbonne

MEQUON, Wis. – Concordia Wisconsin played tough during a pair of matches to wrap up a difficult Saturday, but fell 3-0 (25-21, 25-13, 25-16) to No. 5 Benedictine and 3-0 (25-17, 25-14, 25-20) to Fontbonne inside the R. John Buuck Field House.

THE BASICS
Final Score: Benedictine 3, Concordia Wisconsin 0 (25-21, 25-13, 25-16); Fontbonne 3, Concordia Wisconsin 0 (25-17, 25-14, 25-20)
Location: R. John Buuck Field House (Mequon, Wis.)
Records: Concordia Wisconsin 6-4, 2-2 NACC, Benedictine 10-1, 3-0 NACC; Fontbonne 10-0

QUOTING HEAD COACH CURTIS MADSON
"We did some nice things today against some very good competition. I think we continued our growth as a team and a program. We need to get back in the gym and keep growing and get ready for another test with our second matchup with Loras on Wednesday."

HOW IT HAPPENED
Benedictine 3, Concordia Wisconsin 0
- The Falcons played its best in the opening set against the Eagles, who are ranked fifth in the latest AVCA Coaches' Poll, when they hit .148 as a team. However, the visitors had hitting percentages of .350 or better in each set of the match.
- Concordia Wisconsin jumped out a quick 3-0 lead, fell behind 12-10 and responded to take an 18-16 advantage. They were never able to keep the energy on its side, as Benedictine used a 9-3 scoring run to take the opening set.
- The Eagles were efficient on offense in sets two and three, hitting .412 and .350, respectively, to earn the sweep.
- Sophomore Sam Rovik (Silver Lake, Wis.) led the Falcons with nine kills, while sophomore Blake Schwandt (Kenosha, Wis.) had six kills. Freshman Connor Muff (Kenosha, Wis.) dialed up three service aces, to go along with 26 assists, six digs and two block assists.
- Chase Olson and John Davis led the Eagles with seven kills apiece, while Joe Lock had 21 assists.

Fontbonne 3, Concordia Wisconsin 0
- Fontbonne was too strong on the front line defensively, posting three solo and 10 assisted blocks during the three-set match. They also had a .292 hitting percentage and limited Concordia Wisconsin to .062 for the match.
- The Falcons best set of the contest was the third when they hit .143 as a team.
- Freshman James Althoff (Kenosha, Wis.) had a match-high 11 kills and Rovik added eight kills of his own. Muff dished out 24 assists and sophomore Isaac Glynn (Byron, Minn.) had two service aces.
- Emir Hadzisalihovic led the Griffins with kills. Kyler van Rossum-O'Connell had 27 assists and Mark Klusman served up three aces.

NEXT ON THE SCHEDULE
- Concordia Wisconsin travels to Loras for a Wednesday non-conference matchup at 7 pm.