MEQUON, Wis. – It was a thrilling rollercoaster ride on Saturday afternoon inside the R. John Buuck Fieldhouse in a battle of two of the best teams in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference. The Falcons handed Edgewood its first conference loss of the season with a 25-23, 25-19, 12-25, 23-25, 18-16 victory to improve to 10-9 and 5-1 in the NACC.
The Falcons came out blistering hot on Saturday and jumped out to a 13-5 lead after a pair of service aces from junior Paige Stickney (Menomonee Falls, Wis.). The Eagles showed why they are the favorites in the NACC and trimmed the Concordia lead to 14-13. Edgewood eventually claimed the and held a 23-22 advantage. A kill from sophomore Skylar Kumprey (New Berlin, Wis.) tied the set at 23 and kills from junior Noelle Smith (Davenport, Iowa) and junior Mickenzi Benter (De Pere, Wis.) gave the Falcons the set at 25-23.
It was all Concordia in the second set. The Falcons once again jumped on Edgewood early and held a 9-3 lead after a kill by junior Abby Proefrock (Grafton, Wis.). Edgewood cut the Concordia lead to 11-9 but that is as close as they could get. Senior Anna Bohrer ended the set at 25-19 with a kill. The Falcons hit 0.423 in the second set.
Edgewood kept the match alive with a 25-12 victory in the third set.
The two teams exchanged punches in the fourth set with neither team giving an inch. A kill from Noelle Smith gave CUW a 23-22 lead, but the Eagles took the next three points to force a fifth set. Late in the set Abby Proefrock recorded her 1000th career dig.
The fifth set had not been kind to the Falcons in 2024 with losses against St. Catherine, Wisconsin-Stout and Lakeland. Things did not look great for the Falcons either on Saturday with the Falcons trailing at the side change, 2-8. The Falcons inched closer to trail 6-9 after solid serving from Noelle Smith. The Birds won the next three points with the serve of sophomore Emily Dickmann (Grafton, Wis.) to tie the set. A Skylar Kumprey kill gave the Falcons the lead at 11-10. The two teams were tied at 11, 12, 14, 15 and 16 with the Falcons having four match points. After an Eagles' attacking error, Emily Dickmann ended the match at 18-16.
Edgewood entered the match leading the nation in blocks with 200. The Falcons posted an 8-4 advantage in blocks in the victory with Noelle Smith securing six.
Skylar Kumprey led the flock with 13 kills in the victory while freshman McKenna Oetzman (Reedsburg, Wis.) led the match with 22 assists and 16 digs for a double-double performance.
Paige Stickney, McKenna Oetzman and Noelle Smith all had two service aces.
The Falcons look to extend their longest winning streak of the season to five on Thursday at MSOE. Concordia is now 5-0 since the calendar flipped to October.
