CU's McKenzie Rath helped the Cavs to a season-best 12 blocks against Simpson on Friday.
CU Sweeps Simpson to Even Season Record
PORTLAND, Ore.—Holding Simpson (Calif.) to a .022 hitting percentage, Concordia swept the Redhawks 3-0 (25-20, 25-12, 25-18) on Friday evening to bring the Cavaliers to 2-2 on the year. Simpson fell to 0-2 after falling to Corban earlier in the day inside the Cavalier Gymnasium.
Concordia returns to play on Sept. 1 when it travels to Pacific University for a6 p.m. match.
The Cavalier defense led the way with 12 team blocks, including five assisted blocks from senior McKenzie Rath (Selah, Wash.) and five assisted and a solo block from sophomore Clair Thiel (Oak Harbor, Wash.).
Half of those blocks occurred in the second game as the Cavs rolled to a 25-12 win.
Offensively, Erika Doremus (Port Orchard, Wash.) paced the team with nine kills on 17 attempts for a .353 hitting percentage. Mariana Toscano (Portland, Ore.) added seven kills while Thiel and Raluca Dinca (Portland, Ore.) each had five.
Kristen Gibson led the Redhawks with eight kills.
Dinca also pulled in a match-high 16 digs to out-tally Toscano by two. Skyler Kamaka (Kaneohe, Hawaii) recorded 24 assists to average eight per game.
The teams were squared at 14-14 in the first before a Toscano blast propelled CU to the opening game win. A seven-point run in the second game helped the Cavs distance themselves from the Redhawks before accumulating a 13-point win to take a 2-0 lead while Simpson closed the third game to within three points with the score 18-15 but multiple attack errors doomed the rally to prevent the sweep.