Moorhead, Minn.-- Printable PDF

SERIES: Cobbers lead 15_5

SERIES STARTED: 1976

LAST YEAR: The Cobbers swept the Comets in their two matches last year. Concordia took the first match 3_0 at Mayville State and then duplicated the win when they bettered the Comets 3_1 in the Concordia Invitational. In the first match, the Cobbers' win gave head coach Tim Mosser his 200 th collegiate victory as a head coach. Concordia was led by Becca Shane who recorded 10 kills. Jacki Barten had eight kills and five blocks to go along with five service aces. Kris Sather continued to play sharp in her final season. The veteran rightside hitter completed the match with six kills and a single service ace. The only other Cobber with more than five kills was senior Amy Fitzner. Fitzner finished with six kills and a team_high 11 digs.

In the second match in the Cobber Invite, the Comets beat Concordia in the first game to snap the Cobbers' 15_game winning streak. Concordia ended up taking the match 3_1 as Shane continued her mastery over the Comets by recording 17 kills and five digs. Setter Jessica Walden had 55 assists in the four games.

SERIES HISTORY: The Cobbers have won the last four matches in the series. The last time Mayville State prevailed over Concordia was in 2002 when the Comets won 3_1 in the MSU Moorhead tournament. The 2002 match was the culmination of a stretch where Mayville State won four of six contests from the Cobbers. Before that time, Concordia won eight straight matches from 1977_88...the Cobbers won the first meeting between the two schools (2_0) back in 1976.

GameDay Opening Serve (What you need to know about today's Concordia_Mayville State match_up)

Concordia has started the season like Lance Armstrong racing his cycle through the French countryside. The Cobbers have torn through their first five opponents on their way to setting a school record for most consecutive victories to start a season. The domination has been so complete that Concordia has not surrendered a game in their first five matches.

The last time Concordia ran off a 15_game winning streak was at the beginning of last season. The team that started and finished the streak is none other than tonight's foe Mayville State. The Cobbers beat the Comets 3_0 on Sept. 6 to start the 15_game string. Mayville State then snapped the streak on Sept. 17 in the first match of the Concordia Invitational.

Cobber junior All_American Becca Shane leads the team this season with 53 kills. That total is almost twice as much as the next player on the team (Danielle Norby - 27) and leaves her with a career total of 789. She needs 11 kills to reach the 800_kill plateau for her career. She is also drawing a bead on the Cobber all_time top 10 kill leaders. Amy Walstad is 10 th on the list with 886 kills.

Concordia is the only undefeated team left in the MIAC. There are currently seven teams in the conference with only one loss. The top two teams behind the Cobbers are Bethel and Macalester. Both squads have identical 4_1 marks.

Mayville State enters tonight's match on a 10_match losing skid. The Comets are still searching for their first win of the 2005 season, having barely missed out in their last match against Valley City. Mayville State lost a tough 3_2 match to the Vikings on Wednesday. In that match, the Comets were up 2_0 before losing the final three games of the match.