MEQUON, Wis.- After a sweep of Rockford on the road the night before, the Concordia University Wisconsin volleyball team looked to make it back-to-back Northern Athletics Conference victories against Wisconsin Lutheran College on Saturday afternoon.
Back home for the first time in 16 days, the Falcons fed off the energy of a raucous crowd but in the end came up short 16-25, 30-28, 25-21, 25-14 to the Warriors.
The visitors used a 7-0 run to pull away and take the opening set after the Falcons had grabbed an early lead on two occasions.
Undeterred, the Falcon's came back and pulled out a game two thriller. Neither team could sustain a lead larger than two until Wisconsin Lutheran surged ahead to snare a 20-15 advantage. After a timeout, Concordia closed the gap to one at 21-20. The Warriors wrestled momentum back in their direction scoring three straight to set up five set points.
Aided by a boisterous "Club CUW" the Falcons held off seven game points, however, to steal that second game 30-28 and even the match at one apiece.
A tight third set that saw nine ties, but ultimately late attack and service errors by Concordia helped Wisconsin Lutheran to a 25-21 victory.
The Warriors closed out the match with an anti-climatic 25-14 game four victory.
Britta Duchow and Amanda Stahmann lead the way offensively for Joe Cawley's team with 8 kills apiece. Carley Valentine chipped in with 25 assists.
The Falcon's return to action Friday on the road at Alverno before returning to the R. John Buuck Fieldhouse for a three game home stand beginning October 10 against Northern Athletics Conference front runner Dominican University at 7pm.
