Women's Volleyball Plays the Cards Right
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
North Central (4-1) | 21 | 25 | 18 | 16 | 1 |
|
Concordia Wisconsin (6-3) | 25 | 22 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
WHITEWATER, Wis. – The Concordia Wisconsin women's volleyball team opened the Dig Panici Classic with a 3-1 over the Cardinals of North Central (Ill.). The Falcons improve to 6-3 with the 25-21, 25-25, 25-18, 25-16 victory. The loss was the first of the year for North Central.
The red birds took an early lead in the first set and pushed the lead to 10-6. The Falcons did not fold and continued to fight. A kill from freshman Mickenzi Benter (Appleton, Wis.) tied the set at 18 and the Falcons pushed the lead to 21-18. The Falcons never relinquished the lead the rest of the set and took the 25-21 victory.
The second set began with senior Sierra Lee (Kenosha, Wis.) claiming her 1000th career assist. The Cardinals opened the second set with an 8-1 lead. The Red and White rang off a few points and took a 19-10 lead. The serve of junior Maycee Karpfinger (Wauwatosa, Wis.) and sophomore Lauren Shroba (Bolingbrook, Ill.) cut the deficit to 22-24, but the Cardinals won the next point to win 25-22.
The serve of senior Erika Natzke (Morton Grove, Ill.) gave the Falcons an 11-4 lead. Maycee Karpfinger had three kills in the Concordia run. North Central cut the lead to three points on multiple occasions, but the Falcons cruised to a 25-18 victory. The Blue and White had 12 kills on zero hitting errors in the set.
It was all Concordia in the fourth set on Friday night. After a service error gave the Falcons a 4-3 lead, the Falcons never looked back. Senior Jenna Chaussee (Chilton, Wis.) raised the lead to 20-10 with a service ace. A service ace from Maycee Karpfinger gave the Falcons the victory at 25-16. CUW hit .360 in the set.
Jenna Chaussee led the match with 11 kills and 16 digs for a double-double performance. She also added an assist, service ace and a block.
Maycee Karpfinger, Mickenzi Benter and Lauren Shroba all finished with 10 kills in the victory. The 10 kills for Benter are a career-best.
Erika Natzke led the CUW attack with 22 assists, while Sierra Lee added 16.
Maycee Karpfinger held a block party with eight blocks against the Cardinals. Senior Sophia Collins (Lake Mills, Wis.) collected three blocks. Karpfinger led CUW with two service aces.
The Falcons face a tough schedule on Saturday when they play No. 15 Wisconsin-Whitewater and Coe, who is receiving votes in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) NCAA Division III rankings.
