MATCH RECAP:

ST. JOSEPH, Minn. (10/27/07)-- Concordia stumbled out of the gate against St. Ben's on Saturday in a match that determined second place in the MIAC regular season standings and a chance to secure a bye in the first round of the upcoming MIAC playoffs. The Cobbers' slip-up led to a 3-0 (30-28, 30-27, 30-24) loss to the Blazers. The loss drops CC into a second-place tie with the Blazers at 8-3 and forces the Cobbers into playing in the first round of the conference tournament due to the head-to-head tiebreaker. CC is now 16-7 overall and has dropped two of its last three matches. St. Ben's snaps their two-match losing streak and improves to 20-9 on the year.

The match was all St. Ben's in the early going. The Blazers jumped on Concordia in the first game, bolting to an 18-5 lead. The Cobbers were then able to whittle away at the lead and got to within one at 29-28 after they rattled off six straight points. CC was never able to get the all-important seventh consecutive point and fell 30-28 in game one.

In the second game, CSB took a 16-11 lead before Concordia came up with a 5-1 run to tie the game at 16-16. The two teams then traded runs and points until they got to 23-23. That is when the Blazers took control of the game by finishing on a 7-4 run.

The third game played out like the second with CSB running away at the end after they held a slim 20-19 lead. Their 10-5 stretch at the back end of the final game gave the Blazers the sweep and helped them to a home match in the semifinals.

For the match, Concordia had 41 kills and finished with an attacking percentage of .160. St. Ben's had 50 kills and an attacking percentage of .162. The Blazers had a 78-63 edge in digs, while the Cobbers came away with eight team blocks to CSB's three.

Concordia was led by senior Michelle Honek who had 11 kills and 17 digs. She also led the team with a .294 attack percentage. Anna Tinkham had a team-high 21 digs and Jill Hance finished with a team-high 20 assists. Abby Scheel was her usual defensive force at the net. She had a match-high four blocks.

St. Ben's had a trio of players with 12 kills each. Emma Jaynes, Laurel Heggerness and Kayli Schumacher all had a dozen winners. Jaynes also had a match-high 28 digs. Beth Hanson finished with a match-high 43 assists.

Concordia will host Hamline in the first round of the MIAC playoffs on Tuesday, Oct. 30 at 7 p.m. The match will feature a live video stream as well as live statistics. The winner of the match will play at St. Ben's on Thursday, Nov. 1 at 7 p.m.