Volleyball strengthens offense in road victory over MSOE

MILWAUKEE, Wis. – Concordia University Wisconsin's offense grew stronger as the match progressed on Tuesday night during a 3-1 (20-25, 25-15, 25-17, 25-12) victory at MSOE during Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference play.

THE BASICS
Final Score: Concordia Wisconsin 3, MSOE 1 (20-25, 25-15, 25-17, 25-12)
Location: Kern Center (Milwaukee, Wis.)
Records: Concordia Wisconsin 5-3 (1-0 NACC), MSOE 9-3 (0-1 NACC)

HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Falcons dropped the first set after a dismal performance on offense, hitting .000 (8K-8E-29A) compared to the Raiders' .212 (14K-7E-33A). CUW bounced back and won the next three sets in somewhat easy fashion for its first league win of the season.
- CUW hit .161 in the second set, .222 in the third frame and closed the match with a .379 attack percentage in the deciding set. Overall, it finished with a .190 attack percentage, which is the third best percentage of the season.
- In all, the Falcons overcame 18 scoring ties and nine lead changes to defeat the Raiders for the ninth-consecutive time dating back to November 3, 2008.
- During the first set just one Falcon had more kills than errors and Rachel Lynde led the Raiders with six kills to take a quick 1-0 set lead in the match.
- The offense started to gain momentum when freshman Amanda Schultz (North Prairie, Wis.) sophomore Lauren Nevinski (New Berlin, Wis.) and sophomore Kaily Moegenburg (Plymouth, Wis.) each had a trio of kills. They scored the first seven points of the frame to take command and the lead ballooned to 10 (18-10) following a Makenzie Paszek kill. They evened the match at 1-1 after scoring seven of the last eight points.
- CUW had four players with at least two kills in the third set and rattled off six-unanswered points to win the third set and gain a 2-1 lead in the match. Moegenburg smashed a set-best four kills.
- The Falcons ran away with the fourth set after scoring nine-straight points, eight of which had Schultz serving. They pushed the advantage to 21-9 before trading points before junior Amanda Lehnerz (West Bend, Wis.) hammered home the match-winning kill.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Moegenburg was the only Falcon with double-digit kills after smashing 13. She hit .233 (13K-6E-30A) for the night, to go along with seven digs and three block assists.
- The setting tandem of junior Karina Klotz (Hubertus, Wis.) and freshman Haley Sedo (Neenah, Wis.) combined for 37 of the team's 40 assists. Klotz dished out six assists in the second set, while Sedo connected on six kills in the fourth set.
- Schultz had her serve dialed in and finished with four, which is tied for the most service aces in a match by a Falcon this season. CUW as a team served a season-high eight service aces.
- Senior Kelsa Rubeck (Eau Claire, Wis.) paced the team with 15 digs, while sophomore Alexis Hermes (Trevor, Wis.) had 11 digs. Sedo also dug seven attack attempts.
- Nevinski continues to improve and recorded a career-high eight block assists. She had three block assists in the fourth set.

THE OPPPOSITION
- Lynde and Hannah Pekarek each had 13 kills for the Raiders, while Leah Hendricks added seven kills.
- Abby Born led all players with 30 assists and dug six attack attempts.
- Hendricks paced a balanced defensive effort with 10 digs and MSOE had 10 players record at least a dig in the loss.
- A trio of players recorded two block assists and Pekarek earned the team's only block solo.
- MSOE charged out of the gates and hit .212 in the first set, but then fell flat with a -.071 attack percentage in the second frame. It his .062 and .065 to finish the match.

UP NEXT
- The Falcons conclude their nine-match road swing to start the 2015 season with a NACC matchup at Wisconsin Lutheran on Thursday. The first serve is set for 7 pm.