(Livonia, MI) - The Concordia Volleyball team faced off against Madonna University this past Wednesday for a conference match. The Cards were looking for a win against their conference rivals, but had trouble generating some offense. Madonna came out strong and took the first set 25-11. This woke the Cardinals up, and they came out ready to play in the second set. It was a close set, but it would be Madonna with a 25-21 victory. In the third set the Crusaders were able to end the game, winning 25-16. The match would end at 3 sets to 0 in favor of Madonna. Brittany Schmalzel and Ashley Maynard led the Cards with 6.5 and 8 points respectively.

Freshman #15 Brittany Schmalzel

Just two days later the ladies traveled to Calumet College in Whiting, Indiana to compete in the Crimson Wave Invitational. The Cards would play 4 matches in the tournament, two on Friday and two on Saturday. The first match on Friday was against the University of Michigan-Dearborn. The match proved to be a close one, but the Cards were able to put the Wolves to sleep, winning 26-24, 25-23, 25, 23. Concordia carried their momentum into their next match against the host team, Calumet College. The Lady Cards earned a more decisive victory in this match, winning all 3 sets by at least 9 points to sweep the Crimson Wave.

On Saturday the Cards were in for another close match against William Penn University to start off the second day of play. This was a closely contested match, going all the way to a fifth set. Unfortunately the Cardinals were unable to get in front and fell in a 3-2 loss (26-24, 22-25, 22-25, 25-19, 8-15). Despite the loss, the ladies kept their heads up as they headed into the final match of the weekend. The Lady Cards faced off against Roosevelt University. Concordia was able to end the tournament with a win, sweeping the opposition 25-20, 25-9, 25-18.

Despite Concordia's one loss in the end it would be the Cardinals standing as the Tournament Champions winning the Crimson Wave Invite. Ashley Hart and Danielle Guss would represent the Lady Cards on the All-Invite Team. Hart came in with 53 kills for 72 points on the weekend. Danielle Guss had 44 kills for 57.5 points as well as 48 digs to earn the Most Outstanding Player of the Tournament Award. Overall it was a very successful weekend for the Cards filled with some great competition. Keep it up ladies!

Senior #8 Ashley Hart makes the All-Tournment Team