The Cavs took a set from No. 2-ranked Concordia-Irvine, just the second set the Eagles have lost through their first six matches of the season.
Cavs Battle, Drop Two to Ranked Foes at Biola
BOX SCORE: Concordia (Ore.) vs. Cal State San Marcos
BOX SCORE: Concordia (Ore.) vs. Concordia (Calif.)
LA MIRADA, Calif.—Facing some of the best teams in the NAIA, the Concordia volleyball team opened play at the Biola Summer Slam with a pair of losses to ranked foes on Thursday.
The Cavaliers started the day with a 3-0 (23-25, 15-25, 16-25) loss to No. 23 Cal State San Marcos, but returned later in to the day to battle No. 2-ranked Concordia-Irvine before losing 3-1 (15-25, 25-23, 14-25, 19-25).
Despite the losses, the Cavaliers earned a small victory in their set win against Concordia-Irvine, which was just the second set the Eagles had lost through their first six matches of the season. In addition, the Eagles had just swept The College of Idaho earlier in the day Thursday, a team that CCC coaches unanimously picked to win the Cavs’ conference before the start of the season.
"I feel really good about how the team played against Concordia-Irvine," said CU head coach Melanie Hambelton. "We had amazing defense and put together some great serves against a really good team."
The Cavaliers move to 1-2 with the results Thursday and play two more matches at the Biola Summer Slam tomorrow, August 24. The Cavs will begin the day against No. 10-ranked Vanguard at 10:30 a.m. before finishing the day against The Master’s College at 6:30 p.m.
GAME ONE—No. 23 Cal State San Marcos def. Concordia 3-0
The Cavaliers started slow in the first set against the Cougars (4-2), but cut the Cougars’ lead to one at 22-21 with a late 8-2 run.
The set stayed tight after that with neither team winning two points in a row. However, that meant the Cougars kept their advantage till the Cavs ran out of room and the Cougars took the first set 25-23.
Overall, the Cavaliers played a clean set with only four errors, but had a tough time against Cal State San Marcos’ attack, which generated 18 kills of its own.
Meanwhile, the Cavs stayed tight with the Cougars early in the second thanks to a balanced attack that included kills from Jackie Stein, Melanie Miller, Brianna Hogan and Amanda Goringe.
The Cavs hot start had them only down two at 13-11 in the second, but that’s when the Cougars found their rhythm offensively as they closed out the set on a 12-4 run.
Finally, the third set followed a similar script to the second with a late surge from the Cougars’ offense giving the Cougars the set at 25-16.
“I don’t feel like we ever got our offense going,” said CU head coach Melanie Hambelton. “Cal State San Marcos served tough and we didn’t pass as well as we did against Hope International yesterday. We watched too many balls drop today and we need to get a killer instinct to beat the top teams.”
Overall, Miller and Mariah Raudsepp shared the Cavalier team lead with eight kills each, while Miller finished second on the team with 10 digs in the match.
GAME TWO—No. 2 Concordia-Irvine def. Concordia 3-1
The Cavaliers shook off their loss earlier in the day to put up a strong fight against the No. 2-ranked Concordia-Irvine Eagles in the nightcap.
The Eagles (6-0) surged late in the first set to take an early lead in the match, but then ran into a game Cavaliers squad in the second set.
The Cavaliers showed their mettle early in the second, as they ran out to a 9-5 lead behind kills from Melanie Miller and Ashley Jibby.
The Eagles came right back with a 6-0 run to take the lead back at 11-9, but the Cavs immediately leveled the set with two-straight points to make it 11-11.
The set stayed tight after that until a small Eagles rally let them seize the lead late at 20-17. Concordia again proved resilient though, and responded by winning six of the next seven points to take a 23-21 lead.
The Eagles tied the set one last time at 23-23, but the Cavs’ Lindsey Montgomery came up with a big kill to give the lead back to the Cavs at 24-23. Now with a set point, the Cavs watched as an Eagle error gave them the set at 25-23.
The set win for the Cavs broke a streak of 11-straight set wins for the Eagles.
The win in the second also leveled the match at one set apiece, though the Eagles responded with dominant third and fourth sets to eventually take the match 3-1.
The Eagles were particularly impressive in the third set when they hit .567 after knocking down 19 kills against only two errors.
Overall, Montgomery led the Cavs with 11 kills against only three errors in the match.
Miller, meanwhile, finished second on the team with seven kills, while Brianna Hogan and Jackie Stein finished tied for third on the team with five kills apiece.