Falcons’ Comeback Falls Short in Loss to Dominican

RIVER FOREST, Ill. - The CUW women's volleyball team fell in five sets to Dominican on Saturday afternoon after seeing the Stars jump out to a 2-0 advantage early in the match. The Falcons powered back to even after facing match point, but couldn't hold off a late Dominican rally in the fifth and final set.

Falcons senior Maycee Karpfinger (Wauwatosa, Wis.) and Dominican senior Cassidy Spies both proved to be the most dominant players on the floor for their respective teams, tallying 22 and 24 kills, respectively.

The first set saw the two squads jockey for the lead, though neither was able to take a strong advantage. Towards the end of the frame, the Stars began to pull away, taking six of the final eight rallies after a 19-19 tie. An ace from Spies would put the set away for good by a 25-21 margin, handing Dominican the victory.

The second set was played with an entirely different pace, which saw large spurts of points from both squads. Concordia jumped out to a 4-1 lead, and once Dominican evened the score at nine, it went on an immediate five-point run. The Falcons slowly battled their way back into contention, catching up to the Stars at eighteen points. Both teams would largely trade rallies for the remainder of the frame, but Dominican found itself at game point at 24-23, in prime position to take a 2-0 advantage in the match. A kill from Karpfinger would keep the Falcons in the set, but it was an effort that would only delay a Stars victory, which they would take just a few rallies later at 27-25.

Dominican would jump out to a 6-1 victory in the following set, but Concordia would quickly respond with a 7-0 run that featured two kills from sophomore Mickenzi Benter (De Pere, Wis.) and a service ace from Abby Proefrock (Grafton, Wis.). Neither squad surmounted a lead of more than three points for the remainder of the set, indicating that yet another would come down to the wire. Finally, the Falcons managed to construct a 24-21 advantage, but no later, the Stars went on a 5-0 run to push Concordia to the brink. Karpfinger and Benter would pick up kills on two of the next three rallies, all of which resulted in Falcons points to keep the match alive.

Despite the difficulty for either team to build a sizable advantage in the first three sets, Concordia dominated the fourth. The Falcons took a 16-4 lead out of the gate en route to a 25-18 victory, squaring the contest at 2 after facing match point just a set prior.

The fifth and final set saw Spies take over for the Stars, collecting eight kills and two service aces, including an ace at match point that officially gave Dominican a 15-11 win and a 3-2 victory in the match.

The Falcons will be back in action on Thursday, October 26th, against another conference opponent in the 8-14 Wisconsin Lutheran Warriors.