Falcons Split Saturday Action in St. Paul

SAINT PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia Wisconsin women's volleyball team wrapped up action in Minnesota on Saturday. The Falcons started the morning with a 21-25, 25-23, 25-21, 25-14 victory over Minnesota-Morris, but fell in the weekend finale against St. Catherine, 25-23, 25-18, 15-25, 23-25, 9-15. CUW finishes the opening weekend with a 2-2 record.

The Cougars never trailed in the first set on Saturday morning. The Falcons trimmed the deficit to two 19-21 and 20-22, but that is the closest they could get.

The second set was a battle from start to finish. UMM built the biggest lead of the set at 14-11 before the Falcons stormed back. Junior Mickenzi Benter (De Pere, Wis.) ended the set at 25-23 with a kill.

The Falcons flipped the script from the first set and built a big lead at 17-10 with a service ace from senior Emma Essex (Hoffman Estates, Ill.). The Cougars clawed back twice, but a service error gave CUW the set at 25-21.

The serve of Emma Essex continued to give UMM issues in the fourth set and gave CUW a 9-1 lead. The Falcons never looked back and cruised to a 25-14 victory to secure the match.

Sophomore Skylar Kumprey (New Berlin, Wis.) led the match with 14 kills, with sophomore Emily Dickmann (Grafton, Wis.) adding 22 assists.

The Birds blasted eight service aces in the victory, with three from freshman McKenna Oetzman (Reedsburg, Wis.).

Defensively, CUW was led by junior Brianna Lundt (Brandon, Wis.) with 20 digs and junior Noelle Smith (Davenport, Iowa) with six blocks.

In the second match of the day, Emily Dickmann helped the Falcons jump out to a 6-0 lead with her serves. The Blue and White pushed the lead to seven points on two separate occasions at 10-3 and 13-6. The Wildcats scratched back and tied the set at 20. The serve of Dickman once again came in clutch with a pair of service aces to win the set at 25-23.

The second set was all Falcons, an 11-3 run gave the Falcons some separation to weather a 6-0 run from St. Kate's. CUW closed the set with a 3-0 run, capped off by a kill from junior Paige Stickney (Menomonee Falls, Wis.).

The Wildcats broke free of the Falcons in the third set and stayed alive with a 25-15 victory.

Concordia built a pair of six-point leads in the fourth set at 15-9 and 16-10. The Purple and Gold did not fold and tied the set at 17. The two teams fought back and forth and tied the set at 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 and 23. A service error gave the Wildcats a set point and a kill tied the match at two.

St. Catherine carried that momentum into the fifth set and never trailed the rest of the match, securing the victory at 15-9.   

Mickenzi Benter finished with a match-high 15 kills, with Skylar Kumprey recording 11.

Emily Dickmann had 21 assists and four service aces against the Wildcats, with McKenna Oetzman adding 16 assists.

Brianna Lundt led the match with 24 digs.

The Falcons return to action on Friday at Coe against Concordia Moorhead and Wisconsin-Platteville.