WHEATON, Ill. – The Thunder of Wheaton entered Wednesday at 8-0 on the year. The Falcons flew south and handed the Thunder their first loss of the year with a 28-26, 25-18, 21-25, 25-20 victory.
Senior Brianna Lundt (Rosendale, Wis.) showed why she is one of the best in the NACC when her serve gave the Falcons an early 4-0 lead in the first set. A kill from junior Skylar Kumprey (New Berlin, Wis.) elevated the lead to 8-2. The Thunder kept fighting and tied the set at 18. Wheaton rallied again later in the set and won four straight points to hold a set point at 25-24. Junior Emily Dickmann (Grafton, Wis.) gave the Falcons the lead at 27-26 and an attacking error ended the set at 28-26.
The Falcons never let the Thunder take the lead once in the second set. The Falcons cruise to a 25-18 victory to take a commanding lead. The Birds hit a blistering 0.333 as a team in the set and nine Falcons had a kill.
Wheaton kept the match alive with a 25-21 victory in the third set.
A pair of service aces from senior Paige Stickney (Menomonee Falls, Wis.) gave the Falcons a 7-5 lead in the fourth set and never looked back. Emily Dickmann pushed the lead to 19-10 with a service ace. Wheaton cut the lead to 22-20, but the next three points went to the Falcons. Skylar Kumprey ended the day with the last of six aces in the set.
The quartet of Paige Stickney, senior Noelle Smith (Davenport, Iowa), senior Abby Proefrock (Grafton, Wis.) and Skylar Kumprey all had 10 or more kills. Stickney led the match with 15 kills and hit 0.423 on the night. Proefrock finished the double-double outing with 10 digs.
The dynamic duo of Emily Dickmann and sophomore McKenna Oetzman (Reedsburg, Wis.) finished with 26 and 25 assists. Oetzman record another-double double night with 10 digs.
Concordia landed 12 service aces at Wheaton with Brianna Lundt and Emily Dickmann sniping three each. Lundt also led the birdies with 14 digs.
Noelle Smith and sophomore Kayla Mulder (Whitehall, Mich.) silenced the Thunder attack with five blocks each.
Concordia will compete again on Friday night at the Carthage Invite against Colorado College.
