AURORA, Ill. – The Concordia Wisconsin women's volleyball team put up a fight against one of the top teams in the region on Thursday night. The Falcons challenged Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) leader Aurora, a team receiving votes in this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) national rankings, before falling in four sets, 20-25, 25-22, 15-25, 20-25.
The Falcons moved to 8-8 overall and 1-3 in NACC play, while the Spartans improved to 19-2 and remained undefeated in conference action at 5-0.
The Blue and White wasted little time making a statement against the first-place Spartans.
Concordia came out swinging in the opening set, jumping to a 3-0 lead behind an ace from Emy Miller and a kill from Kaylee Hlinak. The Falcons continued to trade blows with Aurora throughout the opening frame, with the two teams battling through 12 ties.
The Falcons held a 16-15 advantage following a kill from Natalie Nickolai, but the Spartans responded with a late surge to claim the opening set, 25-20.
The Birds refused to back down in the second set.
Concordia opened the frame with a 4-1 advantage and continued to pressure the Spartans. The Falcons built a 9-5 lead following a kill from Nickolai and an ace from Emily Dickmann.
Aurora battled back to take a 15-14 lead, but the Falcons had an answer.
A kill from Bailey Bonde evened the score before Kirsten Krause delivered a kill to put the Blue and White back in front. Madison Cimbalnik followed with a service ace to extend the CUW advantage to 18-15.
The Falcons continued to fly, with Samantha Thomas delivering back-to-back service aces to push the lead to 22-18.
Aurora attempted a late rally, but Concordia held firm. A block from Nickolai and Bonde brought the Falcons to set point before an Aurora attack error sealed the 25-22 victory.
The second-set victory demonstrated the fight of the Falcons against the conference leaders.
The Spartans responded in the third set, using a lengthy scoring run to build an advantage. Despite the Falcons continuing to battle, Aurora claimed the frame, 25-15.
Concordia came out determined to extend the match in the fourth set.
The Falcons raced to an 8-4 lead behind a balanced offensive attack and strong play at the net. Hlinak and Bonde supplied early kills, while the CUW defense forced the Spartans into multiple attacking errors.
Aurora responded with a six-point run to take control at 15-10, but the Falcons continued to fight.
Trailing 20-15, Concordia continued to chip away at the deficit, with Bonde, Brianna Stewart and Hlinak all contributing late kills. The Blue and White battled until the final point, but Aurora closed out the match with a 25-20 victory.
Hlinak led the Falcons with a team-high 15 kills while hitting an impressive .448, committing just two errors on 29 attacks.
Bonde was a force at the net, finishing with eight kills on a .364 hitting percentage while contributing five block assists. Nickolai added eight kills, 13 digs and two service aces.
Dickmann directed the CUW offense with 33 assists and added 10 digs. Miller anchored the defensive effort with a team-high 19 digs and two service aces.
The Falcons finished with eight service aces compared with seven for the Spartans and held a 7-1 advantage in total team blocks.
Aurora was led by Izabella Kowalczyk with 24 kills.
Despite the result, the Falcons showed their ability to challenge one of the NACC's top teams, taking a set from the nationally recognized Spartans and holding leads in three of the four frames.
The Falcons will return to NACC action on Saturday when they travel to Milwaukee to take on MSOE.
