Concordia Irvine Athletics

POINT LOMA, Calif. - The pieces were all coming together; a big comeback win over Hawaii Pacific and an unexpected loss by Cal Baptist had Concordia heading into last night's match guaranteed at least a share of the conference title with a two-match lead over CBU and just two matches remaining.  But, if you talked to anyone on the team or coaching staff, if was clear that the mission had not yet been accomplished.  "A Share" was not a part of the goal.  

"The team set the goal of bringing home a conference championship and, particularly for the seniors who knew they would not have an opportunity to go to the post-season, they really wanted to make this championship theirs", said a smiling Coach Paula Weishoff.  "We have talked all season about taking things 'One match at a time, one set at a time, one point at a time', so we worked to stay focused on that going into the match.  We knew that this was a tough gym to play in and Point Loma was also playing incredibly well recently."  

This would be their final road match in a season where there has been a lot of success on the road and an outright PacWest Championship was now within reach.  But championships rarely come easy and that was the case again on Wednesday night at Golden Gymnasium on the campus of Point Loma Nazarene University.  

With four different Eagles putting away at least two kills, Concordia got 15 kills, hit a match high .351% and added four service aces, sprinting out to a 25-13 win in a first set in which they could seemingly do no wrong. Fast forward to midway through set 2 and the pace had not slowed as the Eagles fashioned another big lead at 15-8.  This Point Loma team, decimated by injuries throughout the season, seemed to be on the brink.... and then they weren't.  Four kills by the Sea Lions and a sequence of errors by the Eagles provided the home team with the air they needed and the script was flipped.  The Sea Lions seized the opportunity and Junior Brianna Sizemore would take them home, scoring three of the last four points, in the 25-23 win.

"We lost our focus and gave them a window and they responded like good teams do", commented Weishoff. "We went back into the huddle and just talked about respecting your opponent, staying composed and playing our game."  

The message took awhile to sink in as the Sea Lions came out determined to hold the momentum, getting seven early kills on the way to a 10-6 lead in the third.  The Point Loma run prompted a Weishoff timeout and it was at that moment that her message started to take hold. Junior Maddy Deters would kick start things with an ace and then Rachel Flynn, as she has done throughout the season, rattled off three kills in the next four points to vault the Eagles to a 13-11 lead.  From that point the level of play elevated on both sides of the net and each team took a turn making a big run. First the Eagles pushed ahead on the firepower of Amber Rose, Cindy Tran and Flynn.  The CU lead ballooned to 19-12 before the Sea Lions dug in for another rally, outscoring Concordia 8-1 and knotting the score again at 20.  Kills by Ladensack, Flynn and Hannah Andrews would keep the Eagles on the front side of the lead until Flynn closed out the 26-24 win with her 19th kill of the match.

 
As has become Concordia's calling card the second half of the season, the final set became a barrage of offense from every hitter on the floor. "You could feel a shift in the team when they went out on the floor", noted Weishoff. "There was just a crispness to the play, a determined look, that showed me they were ready to do it."  A 9-4 lead in the fourth gave the Eagles all the room they needed and Rose would put her stamp on the 25-17 win with a punishing swing for match and PacWest Conference Championship point.

Flynn finished with a season-high 24 kills (one off her career best of 25), a .333 hitting percentage and 14 digs for her 12th double-double of the season, while Ladensack (14 kills, .343%) and Andrews (11 kills) filled up the offensive stat line. Setters Morgan Nunley and Logan Grove kept the offense humming combining for 52 assists on the night. On the other side of the game Taylor Dennison made her biggest defensive statement of the season, logging a match and season high 40 digs, while Rose showed again why she is the 7th best blocker in the country, coming away with five more stops in the win.

"This was, of course, an incredibly special win, not only for this team, but for Concordia-Irvine.  This team just keeps showing up, playing for each other, and epitomizing what it means to win as a team", reflected Weishoff.  "From our bench players to the ones that have started every match, every day they have found a way to make each other better.  Add to that the fact that we are truly blessed with an amazing coaching staff, support staff, and an administration that gets it.  Everyone rallied behind us and I'm really happy we were able to get this for Concordia.  I hope we can get a great crowd out for our final match of the season on Saturday and get one more win we can celebrate at home."
 
Concordia is 26-2 overall and ranked 22nd in the latest AVCA Coaches Poll. The Eagles rank first in the PacWest in kills per set (13.51), second in hitting percentage (.249), first in opponent hitting percentage (.146), first in blocks per set (2.40) and first in assists per set (12.73).

The road win brought Concordia to a perfect 14-0 and makes the Eagles the first team in PacWest history to go unscathed on the road for the entire season.  It was also the 10^th-consecutive win for the Eagles bringing their conference record to 17-2. Concordia wraps up its 2016 season with a home matinee on Saturday.  A win over Dominican in the season finale would tie them with the 2014 BYU-Hawaii team for the second-most conference wins in PacWest history. CUI joins Dixie State as the only non-Hawaii schools to win a PacWest volleyball title.

First serve on Saturday is set for 3pm.