EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (9/03/11)—No.14-ranked Concordia went 3-1 at the UW-Eau Claire Invitational to open the 2011 season. The Cobbers beat Lawrence and St. Ben's on Friday but then lost to Carthage (Ill.) on Saturday and ended the tournament by outlasting the host Blugolds 3-2.

The biggest news of the tournament came in the final match as senior Jenna Green came away with 23 kills and became the 10th player in school history to reach the 1,000-kill mark. Green and fellow senior Katie Vohnoutka were named to the All-Tournament Team.

The Cobbers opened the two-day affair by breezing past Lawrence 25-10, 25-18, 25-19. Green and Vohnoutka opened their senior season by recording eight kills each. Green also had a match-high 20 digs while Vohnoutka countered with a match-high four blocks. Danelle Loomis had 13 digs and set the tone for her career match later in the evening. Senior setter Amy Sykora had 22 assists to help CC to the win in the season opener.

Concordia then dispatched conference rival St. Ben's 3-1 (25-18, 25-17, 23-25, 25-23). Loomis had a career-high 15 kills to help CC roll past the Blazers. Vohnoutka was too much for the CSB defense, coming away with a match-high 19 kills. Green did the majority of her work on the defensive end. She recorded 29 digs to go along with eight kills. Sykora upped her assist total from the opener, amassing 37 helpers in the four-game match.

The lone stumbling bump for Concordia on the weekend came in the opening match on Saturday. The Cobbers couldn't dig themselves out of an 0-2 hole against Carthage and lost 3-1 (25-17, 25-19, 23-25, 25-21). The Lady Reds, who were ranked No.11 in the AVCA preseason national poll, had four players with at least 10 kills and five players with at least 10 digs. Vohnoutka led CC in kills for the third straight match. She came away with 15 kills, 12 digs and a pair of blocks. Green had her first double-double of the year as she had 12 kills and 16 digs. Loomis and Alison Bruggeman gave Concordia four players with double-digit dig totals. Both players recorded 10 digs each in the match. Sykora continued her upward trend in assists, finishing with 49 for the match.

The Cobbers finished off the tourney by rallying from a 2-1 deficit against Eau Claire to post a 23-25, 25-18, 24-26, 25-22, 15-12 win. Green and Vohnoutka both turned in double-double performances for the second straight match. Green had a match-high 23 kills to go along with 16 digs and Vohnoutka had 17 kills and 10 digs. With her 23 winners, Green reached the 1,000 kill total for her career. She now has 1,000 kills exactly in her three-plus seasons. She also has 1,115 digs and is only the second player in CC history to reach the 1,000 kill/1,000-dig mark. Vohnoutka finished the tournament with a team-high 59 kills and needs only 27 more winners to reach the 1,000-kill plateau.

Concordia will now travel to Waverly, Iowa to compete in the Wartburg Invitational on Friday, Sept. 9 and Saturday Sept. 10.