Concordia prevails in first PacWest win against Point Loma
Natalie Gilmore
SAN DIEGO, CALIF. — Concordia Women's Volleyball (4-8, 1-5 PacWest) hit the road Thursday night for a PacWest tilt against Point Loma Nazarene University (6-8, 3-4 PacWest). Senior Rachel Flynn hammered 18 kills and lead the Eagles to a 3-1 victory over the Sea Lions.
The first set began with the teams in close quarters until an 18-19 score. After a tough battle, the Sea Lions gained momentum and pushed past the Eagles to take the first set 25-20. Flynn and Kyra Auten led the green and gold with three kills a piece. Concordia finished the first set with 11 kills and nine errors.
Point Loma started the second set with strength and took the lead early. Concordia was not far behind and soon took the lead at the 15 point threshold. Shaking off a first set loss, the Eagles took the second set 25-20, improving with 15 kills and just 6 errors.
PLNU left Concordia in the dust at the beginning of the third set, forcing a CUI timeout at a score of 15-9. Fighting back, the Eagles racked up points on serves by Madeline Deters to bring the score almost even at 19-20. Servers Julia DenBoer and Cindy Tran put the Eagles on top with points after 20. The third set was sealed with two kills by Flynn, securing an Eagles 2-1 lead.
In the fourth set, a battle ensued. After a few close scoring points, Concordia broke through the Sea Lions defense by gaining two points each from services by Amber Rose and Deters. Crushing the last few points, the Eagles took the last set 25-17 and the match 3-1.
Not far behind the team kill leader, Tran smashed 14 kills for the night. Deters led the Eagles with 16 digs, while Jessica Diederich posted 43 assists. Rose had seven successful blocks at the net. As a team, CUI recorded 58 kills to Point Loma's 49 kills.
The Concordia Women's Volleyball Team returns to home for a PacWest match up against Chaminade University on October 7th at 5pm.
