Cavs Post Third Straight Win with Sweep of Pios
PORTLAND, Ore.—After a four-match losing streak against some of the top teams in California, Concordia bounced back to .500 with a 3-0 (25-20, 25-21, 25-22) win over Lewis & Clark on Tuesday.
With its second straight sweep, Concordia improved to 4-4 on the season while the Pioneers fell to 203 while hosting its home opener.
All three sets proved close in the end as the Cavs won by five, four and three points to complete the sweep.
Freshman Jackie Stein provided the bulk of the CU offense with 15 kills against just a single error for a sparkling .368 hitting percentage. Lindsay Montgomery added nine finishes with a .444 rate as the Cavs finished with a .234 hitting percentage as a team.
“I think I had a different mentality today,” Stein said. “We went back and analyzed some of the past games and felt really good out there. Now the goal is to be more consistent.”
The Cavaliers were particularly stellar at the net with 15 combined block assists. Mariah Raudsepp led the way with four blocks while Stein and fellow freshman Amanda Goringe added three each.
Shantel Gritsch, yet another CU newcomer, tallied a team-high 13 digs while Leslie Hanks finished one back with an even dozen. Newly minted CCC Setter of the Week, Lindsay Mangan continued her league-leading pace with 33 assists while adding eight digs, two kills and two blocks.
“We definitely have a lot of young blood on the team and we are really starting to come together,”Mangan said. “Our outside hitters are pretty young, but they have a lot of talent so I’m excited to see how we can continue to get better.”
Jennifer Dowdy led the way for the Pioneers offensively, finishing with a match-high 19 kills.
Concordia will return to the court on Friday, Sept. 7 when it hosts its own opener against Oregon Tech.
Part of a triple header on campus that day, first serve for the volleyball team will be at 6 p.m. The men’s soccer team will kickoff at4 p.m. while the women will follow at 7:30 p.m. at Tuominen Yard.