Match Stats vs. St. Ben's - Now Online!

ST. JOSEPH, Minn.-- Concordia's road to a third straight MIAC Tournament championship was just made a little tougher on Wednesday night as the Cobbers were ambushed by a red-hot St. Ben's squad.

The Blazers used a 35-33 win in the pivotal third game to claim a 3-1 (30-24, 28-30, 35-33, 30-24) victory over Concordia and grab the third seed in the upcoming MIAC playoffs. The Cobbers, ranked 10th in the latest CSTV/AVCA poll, watched their 11-match winning streak come to a halt. The loss drops Concordia into the #4 seed for the playoffs.

The Cobbers will host conference nemesis St. Olaf on Tuesday, Nov. 1 at 7:00pm in the first round with the winner getting a trip to play at regular season champion St. Thomas on Thursday in the semifinals.

Concordia finishes the MIAC regular season with an 8-3 mark. The Cobbers are now 21-3 overall.

St. Ben's ranked 21st in the latest national poll, wins for the 12th straight time and moves to 9-2 in league play and 19-4 overall. They will host Bethel in the other first round match on Tuesday. The winner of the Blazer/Royal match will play at Carleton on Thursday.

Concordia's offense produced three players in double-digit kill totals. Unfortunately the Cobbers' defense couldn't get a stop at a critical moment. St. Ben's had four players finish with at least 10 kills and as a team hit .201. It is only the third time all season that an opponent has finished with an attacking percentage higher than .200. The Cobbers are now 1-2 when an opponent reaches that mark.

Becca Shane led the way for the Cobbers. She finished with a team-high 16 kills and a match-high nine blocks.

Lindsay Sipma had 13 kills and Michelle Honek finished with 11. Honek also added 26 digs to record her third straight "double-double" and her seventh of the season. She has now posted double-digit dig totals in the past 13 matches.

Defensive specialists Anna Walden and Emily Gilbertson combined for 30 digs. Walden totaled 17 and Gilbertson chipped in 13. The freshmen setting tandem of Jill Hance and Alyssa Dahl put up 55 assists. Hance led the way with 29 and Dahl had 26.

The Blazers were led by St. Cloud State transfer Terri Knapper. She finished with a match-high 19 kills. Shantelle Needham posted 14 kills and 21 digs in a total offensive/defensive effort.