Posted: Oct 31, 2011
(Ann Arbor, MI) - The Concordia Volleyball team headed out to Rochester College last Tuesday for a non-conference match. This was their fifth meeting of the season, and the Cards were looking to improve on their 1-3 record against the Warriors. They would do so, sweeping the opposition 25-14, 26-24, 25-21. The Lady Cards did well to deny the efforts of Rochester in the late stages of the match, not allowing a comeback. Senior Ashley Hart came up big for the Cards with 14 kills for 24.5 points. Danielle Guss and Ashley Maynard led on the defensive side of the match with 19 and 13 digs respectively. This was a good road win for the Lady Cards and they would look to carry their momentum back into conference play.
The very next day the Cards would host the University of Michigan-Dearborn for a conference match. The ladies were "digging for a cure" in this match, wearing pink and donating all of the proceeds to the Susan G. Komen Cure Foundation. The Cardinals were in for a well-contested match, taking 5 sets to decide the winner. Concordia took the first two sets 25-21, and things were looking good for the Cards. But the Wolves came back to win the third set 25-19, sending the match into a fourth set. UMD would take the fourth set as well, and the teams would go into the final set tied at 2. It was a close fifth set, but in the end it would be the Wolves, winning 15-11. Ashley Hart led the Cards with 16 kills and 20 points. Sophomore Adrienne Kanitz was solid for Concordia with 36 assists on the match. Brittany Schmalzel and Ashley Maynard contributed as well with 8 points apiece. Shannon Pietruszka was outstanding defensively with 36 digs. With the loss the Cardinals would fall to 17-15 on the season.
