NCAA TOURNAMENT INFORMATION:

NCAA Tournament Journal: Road To The NCAA Playoffs

NCAA Tournament Bracket: NCAA DIII Volleyball Bracket

NCAA Region Website: NCAA Central Region Website

MATCH REWIND:

Match Stats: Concordia vs. UW-La Crosse Box Score - Now Online!

MATCH RECAP:

ST. PAUL, Minn. (11/14/08)-- In three previous trips to the second round of the NCAA Tournament Concordia was unable to get through the door to the Regional Championship. That changed on Friday when the Cobbers swept past UW-La Crosse 25-22, 25-16, 25-18 and burst into the 2008 Regional Final. The win earns CC a date with conference foe St. Ben's who beat UW-Eau Claire 3-1 in the early match on Friday.

Concordia (22-5) played their best volleyball of the season in dispatching the Eagles in three sets and earning the spot in the regional title game. The Cobbers trailed at only one point during the entire match and didn't allow the La Crosse offense to get into their sets and find open spaces in the CC defense.

Concordia set the tone early in the match when they bolted to a 4-1 lead in the opening set. They pushed the lead to five points on seven occasions before UW-La Crosse (28-12) finally closed to within two points at 24-22. The Cobbers were able to close out the first set when Greta King put down one of her eight kills in the match.

The second set was turned completely in the Cobbers' favor after the Eagles took a 6-5 lead but then watched as Concordia strung together six straight points and 11 of the next 12. The run gave CC a 16-7 lead. From there the two teams traded points and Concordia was able to take the second set 25-16.

The third set was more of the same. Concordia went out to a 7-3 lead and pushed it to seven points at 14-7. After calling a timeout, the Eagles went on their biggest run of the match as they scored the next four points and eight of the following nine. Leading by one at 15-14 and then 16-15, CC sealed the deal  by winning four straight points. That led to the 25-18 in the third set.

As a team Concordia hit .282 for the match while limiting La Crosse to a mere .177. The Cobbers had 43 winners in 117 total attacks as opposed to 41 kills in 130 chances for the Eagles. CC continued to serve well in the tournament and continually kept the Eagles out of their offensive sets with quality serves. Concordia finished with six service aces in the match.

Freshman Katie Vohnoutka had the best statistical match for the Concordia front line players. She had 11 kills and hit .435 for the match. She had two of the team's service winners. Junior Dana Wermers put together another solid match and had eight kills. Greta King added eight kills while Jenna Green had six kills and 12 digs as the Cobber front line is turning into a multi-dimensional strike force.

Amy Sykora and Jill Hance split the quarterback duties. Sykora had 20 assists and Hance chipped in 17 as the pair combined for 37 helpers. Anna Tinkham led a defense that posted 54 digs and regularly dove on the floor and came away with point-saving digs. Tinkham finished with a match-high 21 digs.

La Crosse was led by Nina Walch who came away with 11 kills. Brianne Stankus had 10 winners and was the only other member of the Eagles with more than seven kills. Team kill leader Amber Schoonover was held to just five kills on the night. Liz Schlobohm had 37 assists and Melanie Tate had a team-high 18 digs.

Concordia will now turn their attention to St. Ben's in the regional final on Saturday, Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. The Cobbers lost to the Blazers 3-2 in the final match of the MIAC regular season on Nov. 1. The winner of the regional title match will advance to the Elite 8 in Bloomington, Ill. Neither program has ever advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinals before and will become the first MIAC to achieve the feat since St. Olaf finished third in the 1996 NCAA Tournament.