MOORHEAD, Minn. (10/22/11)—In the end, Concordia was able to keep their consecutive set win streak alive but they had to fight off two set points on their way to posting a 25-13, 25-17, 29-27 sweep over Carleton on Saturday.             

The Cobbers have now won 27 straight sets which furthers their school record. The 27 consecutive set wins ties for the most by a MIAC team since the 2004 season. Carleton won 27 straight in the middle of the 2004 season. CC is now 21-3 overall and 8-1 in conference play. Concordia is in a three-way tie for first place in the league standings.

The first two sets were routine for Concordia as they never trailed and rolled to a 12-point win and then an eight-point victory.  The Cobbers hit .467 in the first set and then cooled off to .250 in the second contest. On the other side of the net the CC defense limited the Knights to a .200 attack percentage in the opener and then a measly .047 mark in the middle set.

The drama for Concordia, and their consecutive set streak, started from the very first point in set No.3. Carleton won the first three points of the set, kept Concordia from getting closer than two points and then won another three straight points to grab a six-point lead at 14-8. Cobber head coach Tim Mosser took a timeout and CC responded by winning nine straight points to take a 17-14 lead. At that point it looked as if Concordia had righted the ship and was about to cruise to the third-set win.

The set momentum turned again after a Carleton timeout. The Knights won four of the next six points and suddenly the set was within one point with Concordia clinging to a 19-18 lead. The Cobbers went ahead 22-20 before Carleton won two straight and tied the set at 22-22. The Knights then grabbed a 24-23 lead to set up their first match point. The Cobbers went in to survival mode and were able to set Jenna Green for a set-saving kill. Concordia then had a set point of their own at 26-25 but a Carleton block evened the score at 26-26. The Knights won the next point to earn their second set point at 27-26. CC was able to survive their second scare after a Carleton player served the ball into the net. Concordia then closed out the match, and kept their consecutive set streak alive, on a pair of attack errors.

Concordia had two players in double-digit kill totals. Katie Vohnoutka had a match-high 13 kills and also added three blocks. She has had at least three blocks in the last three matches and in eight of the 11 matches. Green recorded 11 kills and added a match-high 21 digs. She has now posted a double-double in four straight matches and in 21 of the team's 24 matches this year. Amy Sykora had 37 assists and now has 2869 assists in her 3-plus year career – 171 shy of moving into second place on the school's all-time assist list. Sykora also had three big service aces in the match. Rachel Wiinanen chipped in 17 digs and has had double-digit dig totals in 12 matches this year.               

Carleton (13-10/3-6 MIAC) did not have a player with more than 10 kills on the day. Sarah Nielsen had a team-high nine kills. Erin Anderson added 19 digs and Alicia Flatt came away with a team-high 26 assists.

The Cobbers have two matches left in the regular season. CC will host Augsburg on Wednesday, Oct. 26 at 7 p.m. and then play at St. Ben's on Saturday, Oct. 29 at 3 p.m. If Concordia can win both matches they will be assured of a tie for the regular-season championship and the No.1 seed in the upcoming MIAC playoffs.