Falcons split matches at home to UW-Oshkosh, UW-Stout

MEQUON, Wis. – Concordia Wisconsin was swept in its opening match of the day 3-0 (25-21, 25-17, 25-23) against UW-Stout before holding on for a hard-fought 3-2 (25-22, 25-18, 25-27, 23-25, 15-12) win against UW-Stout during the first day of the CUW Volleyball Invitational inside the R. John Buuck Field House.

THE BASICS
Final Scores: UW-Oshkosh 3, Concordia Wisconsin 0 (25-21, 25-17, 25-23); Concordia Wisconsin 3, UW-Stout 2 (25-22, 25-18, 25-27, 23-25, 15-12)
Location: R. John Buuck Field House (Mequon, Wis.)
Records: Concordia Wisconsin 16-7, UW-Stout 13-12, UW-Oshkosh 14-12

HOW IT HAPPENED
UW-Oshkosh 3, Concordia Wisconsin 0
- Concordia Wisconsin struggled against UW-Oshkosh's bigger middles and hit just .071 for the match, its lowest percentage of the season. The Falcons had seven players with at least three kills and junior Megan Mayer (Downers Grove, Ill.) led the team with seven.
- The Falcons jumped out to a 10-5 lead in the opening stages of the first set before the Titans responded and led 18-15 a while later. The visitors took the first set 25-21.
- It was all UW-Oshkosh to start the second set, as they led 14-1 and never looked back en route to a 25-17 victory to lead 2-0 in the match.
- Concordia Wisconsin charged out of the gates in the third stanza, leading 11-4 and 20-15, but UW-Oshkosh regrouped and ended with a 10-3 scoring run to earn a sweeping victory.
- Senior Mackenzie Wockenfus (Appleton, Wis.) had 18 assists and nine digs, while freshman Madelyn Alton (Custer Park, Ill.) had 11 digs. Junior Kendall Stribling (Greenfield, Wis.) served a pair of aces.
- Tin Elstner had a match-best 11 kills, to go along with seven digs, two solo blocks and two block assists.
- Rebecca Doughty had 15 assists and seven digs, while Carly Lemke and Samantha Jaeke tallied six and five block assists, respectively.

Concordia Wisconsin 3, UW-Stout 2
- The Falcons led 2-0 in the match and needed a deciding fifth set to pull out a victory against the Blue Devils. They had four players with double-digit kills, 14 block assists and hit over .222 in four of the five sets.
- Concordia Wisconsin built leads of eight points in the opening set and seven in the second, which gave them set winning momentum to go ahead 2-0.
- UW-Stout overcame a 21-17 deficit in the third frame with a 10-4 scoring run to take a 27-25 win. They did the same in the fourth by using a 6-2 scoring run to win the set and tie the match at 2-2.
- The Falcons built a 14-7 lead and held on for a 15-12 deciding set win to clinch the victory.
- Junior Holly Anderson (Grant Park, Ill.) led the Falcons with 17 kills and Mayer posted 15 kills, 14 digs and three block assists.
- Stribling tallied seven kills, four service aces and five blocks. Wockenfus recorded 34 assists and 20 digs.
- UW-Stout's Amber Ripley ended with a match-best 20 kills, while also having two service aces, 19 digs and two block assists. Jessica Duval had 44 assists and 13 digs. Steph Cannon had 37 digs.

NEXT ON THE SCHEDULE
- Concordia Wisconsin hosts Millikin (11 am) and No. 15 Illinois Wesleyan (3 pm) on Saturday to finish a busy four-match weekend.