MATCH NOTES:

Match Notes - #21 Concordia (17-8) vs. #8 UW-Whitewater (31-4) - NCAA First Round

#21 Concordia (17-8)

--Concordia is making its fifth straight NCAA Tournament appearance. It is the longest active streak of any team in the MIAC and tied for the third longest in the history of the conference.

-- The Cobbers are making their seventh overall NCAA playoff appearance. CC owns a 3-6 record in the past six trips to the national playoffs and has never advanced past the second round. Last year, Concordia beat Beloit (Ill.) in the first round of the Midwest Regional before falling to host UW-Eau Claire 3-2.

-- Concordia is currently ranked 21st in the latest AVCA National poll. The Cobbers have been ranked in the top 25 of the nation for the entire season and have been ranked in the top 25 of Division III for the past 45 consecutive weeks. That is a school, and MIAC, record for most consecutive weeks ranked in the AVCA national poll.

--The Cobbers tied for second place in the conference with an 8-3 record. CC then beat Hamline 3-0 in the first round of the MIAC playoffs before losing to St. Ben's 3-2 in the league semifinals.

--The Cobbers are 3-4 against teams in the Central Regional. Concordia went 1-4 against teams from the MIAC in the regional and was 2-0 against Central (Iowa).

--Concordia has won 10 of their 17 matches on the season in three-game sweeps. They won five matches in four games and the other two when the match went the distance of five games.

--The Cobbers are 2-2 in matches that were decided in five games. They are coming off a 3-2 defeat at the hands of St. Ben’s in the MIAC semifinals.

--Concordia is led by senior Michelle Honek, who finished the season with a team-high 363 kills. She was sixth in the MIAC in kills in overall matches during the regular season. In the team's 11 conference matches this season, Honek had 134 kills and posted double-digit kill totals in eight of those matches. She had a season-high 20 kills against St. Mary's on Sept. 29. During the season Honek set the school record for digs in a career. She currently has 391 digs on the season and 1,259 for her career. She also had 174 digs during MIAC competition and had at least 10 digs in all 11 matches.

--Honek was named the MIAC Co-Hitter of the Week on Oct. 29. She was one of three Cobber players to earn conference postseason honors. Besides Honek, junior Abby Scheel was also named to the MIAC All-Conference Team, and Anna Tinkham was named the MIAC Tri-Defensive Player of the Year.

--Anna Tinkham set the school record for digs in an individual season. Tinkham has 575 digs on the season and surpassed the old mark of 458 set by Rhiannon Grimm in 2003. Tinkham finished second in the MIAC in digs and is ranked 28th in the nation in digs per game.

--Abby Scheel led the team in blocks this season. Scheel currently has 107 blocks on the year. She is ranked 35th in DIII in that category. She has recorded at least seven blocks in seven matches this season. She had a career-high 11 blocks against Central (Iowa) on Oct. 6.

--The Cobbers went 13-0 last season vs. conference opponents in a 25-2 overall finish, but graduated a 2X All-American hitter, an All-American HM right-side hitter from that squad.

--Head coach Tim Mosser, the 2006 AVCA Region Coach of the Year, has kicked the program into the national spotlight in the past five seasons by fashioning a record of 113-27, capturing three MIAC Tournament championships and landing five straight NCAA playoff berths. Mosser's 15-year record is 286-178.

#8 UW-Whitewater (31-4)

--UW-Whitewater is making its 20th NCAA playoff appearance and 16th in a row. The Warhawks won the NCAA III volleyball championship in 2002 and 2005, took second in 2000 and 2001, and tied for third last season. They have a remarkable 23-5 NCAA playoff record since 2000.

The Warhawks, who also won the 2007 WIAC championship in regular season play, will be making its sixteenth consecutive appearance in the NCAA III Championship Tournament. UW-W won national titles in 2002 and 2005, finished second in 2000 and 2001, and tied for third place last year.

--At No. 8 in the AVCA poll, Whitewater is the top ranked team in the regional. The Warhawks have played just one of the other regional teams this season and claimed a 3-2 win over UW-Eau Claire at home on Oct. 5. At the 2006 NCAA regional, they beat St. Thomas 3-0 and beat Eau Claire 3-1.

--The Warhawks have had 28 AVCA All-Ameicans in the last 19 seasons, including this year's seniors Carly Polk and Rebekah Nelson who were honored in 2006.

--Under third-year head coach Stacy Boudreau, the Warhawks swept the Wisconsin conference regular-season and playoff championships. They have won eight regular-season and eight playoff titles in the conference in the last 11 seasons.

--They are 9-3 vs. NCAA playoff qualifiers. Two of their four defeats have come vs. No. 2-ranked Juniata and they also have a loss to Carhage. They alos went 1-1 vs. Birmingham Southern, a team transitioning from Division I.

--The Warhawks have perhaps the most expereinced team in the field with five seniors and five juniors on their 16-player roster.