Complete 2006 Season Preview in Printable PDF

Cobber Volleyball History

First Year of Volleyball: 1976
All-Time Record: 456-467-2 (30 seasons)
All-Time MIAC Record: 167-118
Years in Postseason Play: 5
Last Postseason Appearance/Result
L 1-3 vs. Carleton (NCAA Regional 1st Round)
All-Time Postseason Record: 4-5
All-Time MIAC Playoff Tournament Record: 5-4
Years in MIAC Tournament/Streak: 5/5

Cobber Volleyball Information
2005 Record: 21-5
Home: 10-2
Away: 5-2
Neutral: 6-1
2005 MIAC Record: 8-3
Home: 5-1
Away: 3-2
Lettermen Returning/Lost: 11/4
Starters Returning/Lost: 5/1

Top Returning Players:
Becca Shane
2004 All-American, 2005 MIAC All-Conference
Michelle Honek
2nd on the team in total attacks and digs in ‘05
Jill Hance
Led the team in assists (555) in ’05
Anna Walden
Led the team in digs (361) in ‘05
Alyssa Dahl
2nd on the team in assists (447) in ‘05

Top Players Lost:
Mackenzie Close
2nd on the team in total blocks (77) in ‘05

The 2006 Preview

The 2006 Concordia volleyball team is poised to continue the tradition of excellence that has been established by head coach Tim Mosser in the past three seasons. During that time the Cobbers have been ranked in the top 25 in the nation for 23 consecutive weeks and have made the NCAA Tournament for three straight seasons. Along the way, Concordia has accumulated two MIAC Tournament championships and compiled an impressive 25-8 record in conference play.

However, Mosser knows that all those accomplishments are in the past and won’t help his 2006 team steer through the tough MIAC schedule. Heading into the season, the Cobbers are ranked No.11 in the AVCA Division III Preseason Poll. Concordia is also picked by the conference coaches as “the team to beat,” receiving a league-best six first-place votes in the annual preseason poll. All that adulation is well and good, but Mosser realizes that when Concordia opens its conference schedule against defending champion St. Thomas on Sept. 13, everything will be set aside and this year’s team will have to stand on its own.

The Cobbers are well equipped to handle the big red target that they will wear throughout the season. They return five of the starting six players who went 8-3 in the MIAC last year, won the prestigious Minnesota/Iowa Border Battle Tournament and earned a bid into the NCAA playoffs. They also possess one of the most dangerous players in the league in All-American middle hitter Becca Shane (Sr., Detroit Lakes, Minn.). Shane has 1,095 kills entering her senior year and needs 444 to break the program record for kills in a career. She was third in kills in the MIAC last year and led the league in blocks and points. Her presence in the middle helped Concordia, as a team, lead the league in blocks last year. She is in the top five in school history in solo blocks, block assists and total blocks. If she is able to have the best season to date, she will make the Cobbers a tough team to beat on any night.

Shane is not alone when it comes to front-line power. Junior Michelle Honek (Staples, Minn./Staples-Motley HS) gives the Cobbers a force on the outside. Honek is coming off a sophomore season where she finished second on the team in total attacks. Defensively, her athletic ability allows her to defend a huge chunk of the court. She was second on the team in digs (350).

Joining Shane and Honek up front will be senior Lindsay Sipma (Dickinson, N.D.). The right-side hitter led Concordia in attack percentage (.275) last year and finished third in the MIAC in that statistical category. She has steadily improved her kill totals the past two seasons and if she can continue that trend, she will give the Cobbers a formidable front-line capable of playing at the national level.

The backcourt cupboard is not bare either. Concordia will return a pair of sophomore setters and a senior defensive specialist. Jill Hance (Hopkins, Minn./Benilde-St.Margaret’s HS) and Alyssa Dahl (Willmar, Minn.) had points in the season last year where they were able to take control of the offense and guide the Cobbers to an 11-match winning streak in the middle of the year. Hance led the team in assists with 555 and was named the MVP of the Haverford (Pa.) Tournament. Dahl gelled at the end of the year, finishing with 447 and being honored with the MIAC Player of the Week for the week of Oct. 17. Anna Walden (Sr., Hawley, Minn.) anchored the Cobber defense as the team’s defensive specialist. She led the team in digs with 361. She will also be helped by the year of experience in the spotlight.

Depth won’t be an issue for Mosser and the Cobbers in 2006. A trio of sophomores who spent 2005 learning the ropes will be asked to step up and take on a bigger role in 2006. Front-line players Abby Scheel (Fergus Falls, Minn./Hillcrest Lutheran HS) and Kristen Hokenstad (Bismarck, N.D./Bismarck Century HS) have the physical stature to be a force in every match. Scheel, at 6-1, has shed her wide-eyed freshman look after excelling for the Concordia track and field team in the spring and Hokenstad, at 6-3, has shown flashes of being able to dominate at the net. Anna Tinkham (Fisher, Minn.) has been moved from setter to defensive specialist to give the Cobbers a solid 1-2 tandem at that spot.

Not one to settle for the “status quo” mentality, Mosser has brought in several newcomers who could put Concordia over the top. Alyssa Dahl’s sister Danielle transferred to Concordia after playing her first three seasons at North Dakota State. The older Dahl will give the Cobbers another option at the net. Her 6-0 frame will allow Mosser to put up a front-line that all checks in at over six feet. Another transfer could help right away as well. Katlin Anderson (So., Lisbon, N.D.), who transferred from the University of Nebraska-Kearney, will push the other two sophomore setters. The only two freshmen to make the unusually deep roster are Angie Bonde (Nerstrand, Minn./Faribault HS) and Meghann Southwick (Byron, Minn.). Both players are outside hitters and will benefit from the Concordia experience.

The 2006 season should shape up to be a continuation of Cobber excellence. Mosser has stacked the early preseason slate to prepare his team for the opening conference match showdown with the Tommies. After hosting their annual Concordia Invitational, the Cobbers will head south to play in the stacked Trinity University (Texas) Tournament. In the invite, Concordia will square off No. 9 UW-Oshkosh and host Trinity, who also received votes in the national preseason poll.

If all goes well, look for Concordia to make its sixth straight appearance in the MIAC Tournament with the chance to play for a “fourpeat” slot in the national playoffs.

2006 Cobber Volleyball News and Notes

Previewing the MIAC
Once again the MIAC volleyball race will probably come down to the final week of play. Several teams should be in the running from start to finish. Defending champion St. Thomas as well as Carleton and St. Ben’s are all ranked in the top 15 in the nation in the AVCA preseason poll. Those three look too be at the top of the conference and, with Concordia, will be tough to knock out of one of the conference tournament spots. After the top four, five other teams could all step up and make a run at summit pack. Bethel, St. Olaf, Macalester and Gustavus all have the ability to play at a high level and all will help make the MIAC one of the top volleyball conferences in the country.

2006 MIAC Preseason Volleyball Coaches Poll
(First Place Votes in Parentheses)
1. Concordia (6)
2. St. Thomas (1)
3. Saint Benedict (4)
4. Carleton (1)
5. Bethel
6. St. Olaf
7. Macalester
8. Gustavus
9. Saint Mary's
10. Hamline
11. Augsburg
12. St. Catherine

- This is the second time in the past three seasons that Concordia has received the honor as being the top pick in the preseason coach’s poll. In 2004, the Cobbers were picked to finish first but ended up second and went on to claim the tournament title.

Tournaments – We Love ‘Em
Concordia will play in three different tournaments this season. After opening the year with their own Concordia Invitational, the Cobbers will play in a pair of high-level invites. The second weekend of the season brings the Trinity (Texas) Tournament and then midway through the year, Concordia will play in the annual Minnesota/Iowa Border Battle Tournament. The Cobbers have gone undefeated in regular-season tournament competition in the past two seasons. During that stretch they have racked up a 23-0 record, grabbed six tournament titles and posted an 8-0 record in the past two Border Battle tournaments.

National Respect
After fighting for so long to get a sniff at the top 25, Concordia has now spent the past 23 weeks locked in the AVCA national rankings. The streak started in the middle of the 2004 season, lasted all of last year and continues to start the 2006 campaign. The highest the Cobbers ever reached was No. 10. That occurred on two occasions last year. The lowest they were ever ranked last season was No. 17

2006 AVCA Division III Preseason Poll
Rk School Pts
1 Juniata (13) 579
2 Wittenberg (8) 576
3 La Verne 516
4 Emory 511
5 Washington (Mo.) 508
6 UW-Eau Claire 450
7 UW-Whitewater (3) 449
8 New York University 431
9 UW-Oshkosh 388
10 St. Thomas (Minn.) 347
11 Concordia (Minn.) 301
12 Ohio Northern 298
13 Carleton 283
14 St. Benedict (Minn.) 257
15 Linfield 239
16 Cal Lutheran 236
17 Central (Iowa) 224
18 Austin 208
19 Mount St. Joseph 186
20 Whitworth 156
21 UW-Platteville 105
22 Colby 103
23 Cal State-East Bay 101
24 Southwestern (Texas) 90
25 Elmhurst 65