Volleyball sweeps Concordia Chicago in home finale

MEQUON, Wis. – Concordia University Wisconsin's kept its postseason hopes alive on Friday as they swept Northern Athletics Conference rival Concordia University Chicago 3-0 (25-16, 25-20, 25-18) inside the R. John Buuck Field House.

CUW was challenged all night and responded with cohesive play all-around, including a season-high-tying 11.5 blocks. The victory was the first home win of the season and third sweep for the Falcons (6-19, 3-7 NAC). More importantly, they remain in the hunt for the final spot in the NAC Tournament and are two victories behind with two league matches to play.

Sophomore Carley Valentine (De Pere, Wis.) led CUW with 12 assists, seven kills, seven digs and five block assists. Sophomore Britta Duchow (Potter, Wis.) also played an impressive all-around match with eight kills, four digs and six block assists.

Junior Tia Jandrin (Forestville, Wis.) directed the Falcons offense and finished with a season-high-tying 13 assists, to go along with seven digs.

Claire Mackey paced the Cougars with 10 kills, while Maryl Pinotti dug a match-best 13 attack attempts. Jenna Boggs assisted on a match-high 21 kills and dug 10 attack attempts for the match's only double-double.

The Falcons held a single-digit lead for the majority of the opening frame and took advantage of three-straight Cougar attacking errors to claim a 25-16 set win.

CUW and CUC went back and forth in the second set scoring runs of three and five points. The Cougars got to within 21-19 late, but freshman Jessica Eggebrecht (Napoleon, Ohio) recorded a pair of kills to push the frame in the Falcons favor, 25-20.

The final frame was the tightest of the three, as there were seven scoring ties and three lead changes. CUC built an 18-17 advantage before CUW went on the attack and scored the last eight points to claim the sweep. Duchow and Valentine finished the scoring run with three and two kills apiece, respectively.

The Falcons return to the road on Saturday for a 1 p.m. NAC matchup at Aurora University. Following the contest they travel to MSOE for a 7 p.m. match on Wednesday.