MATCH RECAP:

MOORHEAD, Minn. (10/19/07)-- Concordia earned its seventh straight MIAC playoff berth by fighting past Gustavus 30-28, 30-21, 32-30. The Cobbers, who won their sixth straight conference match, are now 7-1 in league play and move into a tie for second place in the conference standings. CC is now 15-5 overall.

Concordia had to overcome a tough Gustavus (15-8/3-5 MIAC) squad that had big rallies in all three games. The Cobbers were able to get past the solid net play of senior Jennifer Theleman who finished with a match-high 16 kills and was a threat every time she touched the ball. Concordia countered the big hits of Theleman with team defense and a deep offensive attack. The Cobbers had had six players record at least five kills in the match and were led by senior Michelle Honek who had a team-high 11 kills.

Both teams had 50 kills in the match with Concordia having the slight edge in attack percentage. The Cobbers hit .171 for the match, while the Gusties finished with a .138 attack mark. Concordia had 21 attack errors and Gustavus ended with 27.

Defensively, Concordia junior Anna Tinkham was the star of the show. Tinkham had her ups and downs in the match but rallied the team in the final stages of game 3 by coming up with several highlight reel digs to help CC slip past Gustavus 32-30. Tinkham had a match-high 39 digs and needs only five more digs to break the school record for digs in a single season. Tinkham has 454 digs this year and is closing in on the mark of 458 set by Rhiannon Grimm in 2003.

Cobber sophomore Dana Wermers posted her second double-digit kill total in the last three matches. She had 10 kills and has now had 30 kills during that stretch. Maggie Olson added eight kills, while Abby Scheel and Erin Sykora had six kills each and freshman Valerie Glynn had five kills. Glynn also had three blocks in the match. Jill Hance recorded a team-high 22 assists and Alyssa Dahl chipped in 20 assists for CC.

Theleman was helped out by frontliner Meghan Gehring for the Gusties. Gehring had 13 kills in the match. Junior Bridget Burtzel had a match-high 39 assists and a team-high 24 digs.

Concordia will turn around and host Carleton on Saturday, Oct. 20 at 3 p.m. The match will feature live video and live stats. Both broadcast components can be accessed through the Cobber athletics website.