HOLLAND, Mich. – The Concordia Wisconsin women's volleyball team opened a very challenging 2025 non-conference schedule against two traditional powerhouses in the Great Lakes region against Ohio Northern and No. 3 Hope on Saturday. The Falcons fell to Ohio Northern in the morning session, 25-18, 22-25, 25-16, 21-25, 10-15. The third-ranked Flying Dutch then closed the day with a 25-20, 25-17, 25-19 victory.
The Falcons jumped out to an early 6-0 lead with the serve of sophomore Olivia Ibeling (Cambridge, Wis.) and never looked back. The largest lead of the set came at 15-7 with a kill from sophomore Kayla Mulder (Whitehall, Mich.) as she returned to her home state. The Birds closed the set at 25-18.
The Polar Bears flipped the script and held a 9-3 lead and pushed the lead up to 17-7. The serve of Olivia Ibeling cut the deficit to 18-16, but the Orange and Black escaped with a 25-22 victory.
Olivia Ibeling continued to give the Polar Bears issues as her serve propelled CUW to an 8-0 lead in the third set. A service ace for senior Brianna Lundt (Rosendale, Wis.) gave the Falcons a 12-point lead at 21-9 and a block from senior Noelle Smith (Davenport, Iowa) and senior Skylar Kumprey (New Berlin, Wis.) ended the set at 25-16.
The fourth set started with Ohio Northern jumping out to a 7-2 lead. The Falcons fought back and tied the set at nine with a service ace for Skylar Kumprey. CUW held a 20-17 lead, but ONU closed the set on an 8-1 run.
Ohio Northern carried that momentum into the fifth set and never trailed in the final set to claim the victory.
Skylar Kumprey led the match with 16 kills.
Senior Paige Stickney (Menomonee Falls, Wis.) stuffed the stat sheet with 13 kills, and five blocks.
CUW had 12 blocks in the first match, with Olivia Ibeling and sophomore McKenna Oetzman (Reedsburg, Wis.) both landing four each.
Junior Emily Dickmann (Grafton, Wis.) dished out 29 assists to go with 10 digs.
Brianna Lundt also had a double-double performance with 23 digs and 11 assists.
The Falcons fought hard in the first set against the Flying Dutch in a set that had nine ties and three lead changes. Hope broke away late to take the first set, 25-20.
CUW used a 5-0 run to take a 5-3 lead in the second set. The Orange and Blue fought back and claimed the lead at 8-7 and never looked back.
Concordia continued to hang tough in the third set and reclaimed the lead at 7-6 with a block from Noelle Smith and Emily Dickmann. Dickmann gave CUW the lead again at 9-8 with another block. Hope held onto the lead for the rest of the afternoon.
Freshman Kirsten Krause (Pocatello, Idaho) and Paige Stickney led the flock with seven kills. Emily Dickmann led CUW with 11 assists and two blocks, Noelle Smith also had two blocks.
Brianna Lundt had 11 digs for CUW on the afternoon.
The Falcons continue their non-conference schedule on Friday at No. 2 Wisconsin-Whitewater.
