Match Stats vs. Carleton - Now Online!

ST. PAUL, Minn.-- After a slow start, third-seed Carleton rallied to post a 3-1 victory over Concordia-Moorhead in Thursday's opening NCAA regional volleyball match at St. Thomas' Schoenecker Arena.

In the 3:30 match, the Knights (22-4) won 22-30, 30-23, 30-26, 30-25 and captured the institution's first NCAA volleyball playoff victory. Carleton went one-and-out in its only previous NCAA trip in 1985.

Becca Shane had a match-high 22 kills for Concordia (21-5). She also added four blocks and nine digs. Danielle Norby added 11 kills and 10 digs and Kristen Hokenstad had 10 kills and three blocks. Alyssa Dahl led the Cobbers with 21 assists and added 15 digs.

Danielle Hargreaves had 15 kills and 22 digs and Jamie Lykken had 32 digs and three aces for the Knights, who advance to Friday's 4:30 p.m. semifinal match vs. top-seed Washington (Mo.) (33-1). The Bears had a first-round bye.

Alivia Bryan tallied 12 kills and five blocks for the Knights, who won for the eighth time in their last nine matches. Rachel Popielarz led the Knights with 27 assists and added 12 digs and Heather La Chapelle had 22 assists to go with 17 digs. Sarah Kunelius led the Knights blocking effort with seven blocks, as the Knights 13.0 team blocks.

Game one was all Cobbers from the start, as Carleton fell behind early, 6-1, and never recovered as the Knights had as many errors (10) and kills in the first game. Shane was a force in game one for the Cobbers, tallying five kills and a pair of blocks.

The second game was tight until the Knights scored three straight points to lead, 13-10. The Cobbers answered with three of the next four points to tie the game at 14-all, but the Knights had the decisive answer with five consecutive points, three on Lykken aces, to take control at 20-16. The Knights bumped the lead to 24-17 before the Cobber closed with five at 24-19. Ritz came alive, notching three straight kill shots and Carleton was able to close out the game on a Bryan kill and a Brown and Bryan block.

The third game played saw the Knights rally early. They trailed 13-9, but reeled off 11 of the next 13 points to grab a 20-15 advantage. Hargreaves tallied four kills during s five points stretch during the rally. The Knights built leads of 26-20 and 28-22, but the Cobbers wouldn’t go quietly, fending off four game points before the Knights closed it out on a block by Hargreaves and Kunelius.

The fourth game was all Knights early, as they led 6-1 and maintained a four-point cushion until the Cobbers pulled within two at 16-14. The Knights responded by winning eight of the next ten points, capped by a Brown kill shot, to lead 24-16. Leading 28-20, the Knights watched as the Cobbers scored the next three points, but Hargreaves notched a kill shot out of a timeout and the Cobbers committed a service error to end the contest.