Complete NCAA DIII Tournament Bracket

NCAA Tournament Central Region Schedule

All matches played at St. Thomas - St. Paul, Minn.

1:00 p.m. - #19 St. Benedict vs. Simpson

3:30 p.m. - #18 Gustavus vs UW-Eau Claire
6:00 p.m. - #17 Concordia vs. Loras - Listen Live
8:30 p.m. - #6 St. Thomas vs. UW-LaCrosse

MOORHEAD, Minn. (11/10/08)-- For the sixth straight season Concordia will be participating in the NCAA Tournament. The Cobbers were selected as part of the Central Region and will play Loras (30-4) who was the regular season and playoff tournament champion of the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference on Thursday, Nov. 13 at 6 p.m. The regional is being hosted by St. Thomas University and all matches will be played in Schoenecker Arena. Tickets are $5.00 for adults and $3.00 for students and can be purchased at the door.

The winner of the Concordia/Loras match will meet the winner of the St. Thomas/UW-LaCrosse match on Friday, Nov. 14 at 7 p.m.

The Cobbers are 20-5 this season and currently ranked 17th in the latest AVCA National Poll. CC finished the MIAC season 8-3 in league play and was fourth in the final conference standings. Concordia made their claim to the national tournament by going 12-1 against non-conference opponents and winning both the Colorado College and Border Battle Tournaments.

Concordia's sixth straight NCAA Tournament appearance ties a conference record held by St. Olaf and St. Thomas. The Tommies earned six trips to the national tournament from 1987-92, while the Oles  achieved the feat from 1993-98. The Cobbers started their streak in 2003 when the team finished second in the MIAC regular season and went on to win the league playoff championship. CC is making its eighth overall trip to the NCAA Tournament and is 3-7 in their previous seven trips. Concordia has advanced only as far as the second round in the NCAA playoffs. They made it to the second round in 2006 and 2004. The Cobbers are coming off a first-round loss to eventual national runner-up UW-Whitewater in the first round of last year's tournament.

The Cobbers are led by seniors Abby Scheel and Anna Tinkham and freshman Jenna Green. All three players earned MIAC postseason honors last week. Scheel led the team in blocks and was third in kills in both overall and conference matches. She had 147 kills in the team's 25 matches and 65 winners in conference play. Scheel also had 72 total blocks on the year and 27 in the 11 MIAC matches. Tinkham was named the MIAC Setter/Defensive Player of the Week on two occasions in 2008. She led the team in digs and was fourth in the MIAC in that statistical category. Green was named the MIAC Rookie of Year in 2008. She led the team in kills, was second in digs and third in blocks. She has 257 kills in her first collegiate season as well as 313 digs and 38 blocks.

Loras enters the tournament with a 30-4 record and went a perfect 8-0 in IIAC play. The Duhawks won the IIAC tournament playoffs by beating Luther 3-1 in the semifinals and then bettered Simpson 3-1 in the conference championship match.

Loras is making its first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament. The Duhawks are having their best season in program history as the bested their old school record in wins (32) by winning both matches in the conference tournament.

The Duhawks are led by sophomore Kate Russell who has 510 kills on the season and is second on the team in digs with 308. She led the IIAC in kills in conference matches (113) and was sixth in hitting percentage (.316). She was named the IIAC Player of the Week twice this season - Sept. 28 and Nov. 9. Jenny Dziubla leads the offense as the team's setter. She had a team-high 1,265 assists and led the conference in assists (289). She was named the IIAC Player of the Week on Sept. 7.

Concordia and Loras have eight common opponents and both teams posted 8-0 records against those team. The Cobbers went 4-0 against IIAC opponents during the season and the Duhawks were 4-0 against MIAC foes.