Concordia-Wisconsin earned the top spot for the second day of the Concordia Invitational Volleyball Tournament as the swept through the field Friday to finish with a 3-0 record. The Falcons will face Purdue University-North Central in Saturday's opening game at 10:00 a.m. The Panthers dropped all three of their games on day one.

Host Concordia-Ann Arbor takes a 1-2 tournament record into the second game Saturday as they will battle Concordia-Chicago, who finished the first day with a 2-1 record. The Cougars swept the Cardinals in their first meeting Friday 3-0.

The Cardinals are looking to reach the Championship game of the CIT for the second straight season and are seeking their first ever championship.

Refer back to the Cardinal athletic website for regular updates throughout the day.

Concordia-Ann Arbor: Nicole Williams - Jr.

Concordia-Chicago: Kari Herbst - So., Alex Pinotti - Fr.

Concordia-Wisconsin: Carrie Herron - Sr.; Erin Kiesow - Jr. (Libero); Katie Lane - So.

Purdue University-North Central: Angela Edwards - Fr.

Concordia-Wisconsin was looking to continue their winning ways as they head into the championship game of the CIT with an unblemished 4-0 mark. The Cougars of Concordia-Chicago were looking to exact revenge for a loss to the Falcons the day earlier. The close conference rivals were determined to make the battle for the trophy a spirited affair. They did not disappoint.

The first match started with the Falcons holding a 7-5 lead before rattling off five consecutive points to hold a 12-5 advantage. The Falcons would extend the lead to 15-7 and eventually 18-9 as they were poised to roll to an easy first game victory. But the Cougars would battle back to close with three at 20-17. The teams would exchange points from then on out as Wisconsin took game on 30-24.

Game two was equally competitive, but momentum swung heavily in favor of Chicago as they turned a 5-4 deficit into a 10-5 lead with Sarah Steinke serving. Sitting with a 16-13 lead, Chicago put distance between them and their opponent with six-point surge giving them a 22-13 lead. The teams would exchange points evenly from that point foward as Chicago evened the match up at 1-1 with a 30-20 victory.

As the emotion mounted and the intensity was at a level indicative of a championship game, the teams exchanged points at a rapid pace in the third game. The largest lead of the game belonged to the Cougars - who held a six-point margin three times in the match - the latest being 25-19. But the Falcons stormed back to pull within a single digit at 27-26 - but the Cougars closed out the game with a three-point flurry that gave them a 2-1 lead in the match.

With the emotion and level of play that was indicative of a championship game featuring bittter rivals, neither the Falcons nor the Cougars were set to back down. The only negative about the fourth game was that it didn't lead to a fifth game - which would have been fitting since both teams gave everything they had and each point was a battle royale. Throughout the fourth game, the lead never surpassed three points, that is, until the Cougars delivered the final nail in the coffin to win the game 30-26 and win the CIT simultaneously.

How would the Cardinals rebound after dropping a heartbreaking match to Concordia-Chicago? Overall, the responded favorably, save for one large blemish in the second game.

Concordia-Ann Arbor took an early 8-6 lead, but lost their focus as the Panthers of Purdue University-North Central rambled off seven straight points to take a 13-8 lead. Ann Arbor would battle their way back to pull within 14-13 and then enjoyed a little spurt themselves to take the lead at 17-14. The Panthers would never get closer than the three-point deficit as Concordia finished off game one with a 30-24 win.

Game two was either a thing of beauty for PNC or an aberration for Concordia - depending which bench you were sitting on. With the Cardinals having a 2-1 lead, PNC exploded for 12-straight points and had a surprising 13-2 lead considering how equal the two squads were. The Cardinals pulled within eight at 15-7, but the Panthers put the game away with a seven-point surge to take a commanding 22-7 lead en route to a 30-11 win.

With PNC feeling good about their chances and Concordia reeling, game three couldn't have been more pivotal - and as time would tell - it was the most exciting of the four games. The Cardinals appeared to be on cruise control midway through the contest when they sat with a seemingly comfortable 19-11 margin. PNC fought their way back several times, pulling within one at 27-26 and 29-28 but the Cardinals were able to pick up the final point to take a 2-1 lead after winning game three 30-28.

Trailing 19-14 in the fourth game, Concordia found another level in the tank and were able to generate a eight-point streak to wrestle control of the game and match away from the Panthers with a 22-19 lead. The two teams would exchange points the rest of the way as Concordia-Ann Arbor won game four 30-24 to earn third place in the Concordia Invitiational Volleyball Tournament.

The Cardinals entered the game with the goal of avenging for yesterday's loss to the Cougars of Concordia-Chicago and securing a spot in the championship game. It proved to be too daunting of a task for the under-manned Cards as they fell in three straight games to the Cougars.

Chicago would give Ann Arbor the fits in the first game as they would jump out to an 11-4 lead, but the Cardinals would fight their way back to tie the game at 12-12. For the rest of the game the Cougars would score three points to every Cardinal point and would take the first round 30-21.

The second game appeared that the match was going to go the distance as the Cardinals exploded early and had a 19-10 lead at one point. Chicago didn't rally in one fell swoop, but they consistently closed the gap until they went on a flurry down 26-21 scoring six straight points to wrestle the lead away. Ann Arbor would score the next three points to have themselves poised at game point, but the Cougars returned the favor and they took the lead. Chicago would win the game 32-30 and take a commanding 2-0 lead in the match.

The third game had little emotion as the Cardinals were physically and mentally drained. The pivotal point came when the Cougars had a 6-4 lead and the serve. When all was said and done and the Cardinals had regained the serve, they were trailing 18-4 and the rest of the game was a matter of playing it out as Chicago advanced to the Championship game with a 30-14 win.

Concordia-Ann Arbor, after dropping to 2-8 overall, will take on Purdue University-North Central at 2:00 p.m. in the consolation game. Concordia-Chicago, currently 3-1 overall, will battle undefeated Concordia-Wisconsin (4-0) in the CIT Championship at 4:00 p.m.

The Panthers had little less than 12 hours to head to their hotel and get ready to play the first game of Saturday after falling to the host Concordia Cardinals last night.

It was a daunting task for the first-year program to come out and knock off the team that blitzed through the field on day one of the CIT in Concordia-Wisconsin. The Falcons showed their determination to hoist the trophy at day's end when they ran rough-shod over PNC in the first game with a 30-14 win. Annie Mosser carried the service advantage while Katie Roessler and Sarah Scheuneman dominated the net again.

Game two was very similar to its predecessor as the Falcons would score in bunches of three and four points in a row and easily kept the Panther attack in check. Despite a 3-0 run with Dana Barkos serving for the Panthers, PNC couldn't put together long enough strings of points to stay close to Wisconsin falling 30-16.

Once the Falcons established an early comfortable lead, head coach Joe Cawley began to use his reserves the rest of the way for the third game, which was little more than a formality with a tired and dejected PNC squad who knew they were no match for the deeper and more experienced Wisconsin squad. With a 30-15 win in the third game, the Falcons swept PNC to clinch a spot in the championship game set to start at approximately 4:00 p.m.