Falcons victorious

MEQUON, Wis. – Concordia Wisconsin began the 2019 campaign with a thunderous 3-0 (25-18, 25-14, 25-19) victory over North Park to secure the first win in program history before knocking off Greenville 3-1 (18-25, 25-20, 25-18, 25-23) inside the R. John Buuck Field House.

THE BASICS
Final Scores: Concordia Wisconsin 3, North Park 0 (25-18, 25-14, 25-19); Concordia Wisconsin 3, Greenville 1 (18-25, 25-20, 25-18, 25-23)
Location: R. John Buuck Field House (Mequon, Wis.)
Records: Concordia Wisconsin 2-0, Greenville 1-1, North Park 0-2

QUOTING JAMES ALTHOFF, HEAD COACH CURTIS MADSON


HOW IT HAPPENED
Concordia Wisconsin 3, North Park 0
- The Falcons scored four points in a row to gain early momentum against the Vikings and later put together a 6-1 scoring run in the opening set to take control. They would go on to win the set 25-18 and never look back to secure their first win in program history.
- Concordia Wisconsin hit .231, .227 and .269 in each set, respectively, as its offense was clicking on all cylinders to begin the season.
- Freshman James Althoff (Kenosha, Wis.) led all players with 11 kills and 11 digs, while hitting .304 at the net. Freshman Connor Muff (Kenosha, Wis.) assisted on 27 kills, dug nine attack attempts, served three aces and had three block assists.
- Sophomore Blake Schwandt (Kenosha, Wis.) had five kills and three block assists, while sophomore Sam Rovik (Silver Lake, Wis.) ended with eight kills and five digs.
- Daniel Porche led North Park with six kills, while Moises Zavala had 18 assists. Colin Wong and Brayden Holmes each had seven digs.

Concordia Wisconsin 3, Greenville 1
- The hosts led 15-14 midway through the first set, before Greenville put together a 10-4 scoring run to come back and take an early 1-0 lead in the match with a 25-18 win.
- While the setback could have derailed Concordia Wisconsin, the youthful roster regrouped and opened with an 11-4 lead in the second frame. The momentum continued on, as it won the second and third sets.
- The fourth set was interesting in the final moments, with the scoreboard reading 23-23. Muff connected with Rovik to put the Falcons in position for match point, which resulted in a Panthers attack error to give Concordia Wisconsin the win.
- Althoff would again have himself a stellar match with 19 kills, hitting .441 at the net, to go along with seven digs and three block assists. Muff dished out 39 assists, had five digs, two kills and two block assists.
- Rovik put together 10 kills, three digs and two block assists. Sophomore Isaac Glynn (Byron, Minn.) registered six kills, seven digs and three block assists. Freshman Turner Fuhrer (Kenosha, Wis.) had nine digs of his own.
- George Black led Greenville with 12 kills, while Nick Corrigan and Kyle Ward had 10 kills each. Tanner Smith had 42 assists and 10 digs.

MATCH NOTES
- Althoff hit .386 at the net during the two wins after combing for 30 kills.
- Muff had 66 assists to help the Falcons hit .253 as team.

NEXT ON THE SCHEDULE
- Concordia Wisconsin returns to play on January 25 and 26 when it travels to Hiram, Ohio to compete against St. John Fisher, host Hiram and Loras.