No. 16 Millikin Tops Women's Volleyball

WHITEWATER, Wis. – The Concordia Wisconsin women's volleyball team opened a busy weekend at the Wisconsin-Whitewater Invite on Friday evening. The Falcons faced off against the 16^th-ranked Big Blue of Millikin. The Falcons moved to 4-5 on the year with the 25-21, 25-22, 25-22 loss. Millikin improved to 7-1 with the victory.

The Big Blue bounced out to an early 7-2 lead in the first set on Friday. The Falcons trimmed the deficit to 17-15 with a service ace from junior Mickenzi Benter (De Pere, Wis.). Another service ace from junior Abby Proefrock (Grafton, Wis.) cut the score to 23-21, but Millikin claimed the set with the next two points at 25-21.

Millikin again jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the second set. The Falcons continued to chip away at the Millikin lead and tied the set at 22 with a kill from junior Noelle Smith (Davenport, Iowa). Like the first set, the Big Blue used a late rally to claim the set at 25-22.

The Falcons were able to build four-point leads at 16-12 and 17-13 with kills from Mickenzi Benter. CUW created a 22-20 lead, but Millikin closed the match on a 5-0 run.

Sophomore Skylar Kumprey (New Berlin, Wis.) led the flock on Friday with 10 kills, one ahead of Noelle Smith with nine.

Freshman McKenna Oetzman (Reedsburg, Wis.) led the Concordia offense with 12 assists.

The Falcons held a 7-5 advantage in service aces, Noelle Smith had a match-high three service aces and four blocks.

Abby Proefrock led the match with 10 digs.

The Falcons return to action on Saturday against No. 4 Wisconsin-Whitewater and Wisconsin-Stout.