BOX SCORE

Seguin, Texas – Bianca Martinez and Shelbi Chipman each posted a double-double, but the Concordia University Texas volleyball team suffered a 3-2 loss to Texas Lutheran on Tuesday, Sept. 13 at Susan Duke Court. The Bulldogs rallied to win a marathon that featured 36 ties and 18 lead changes by scores of 22-25, 25-20, 26-28, 25-16 and 15-10 to remain undefeated in conference play.

The first set was a back-and-forth battle with 12 ties and eight lead changes. Neither team was able to gain more than a two-point advantage until Marcia Sagebiel and Manda Martin combined for a block to make it a 13-10 score in favor of the Bulldogs. But Concordia was able to tie the set up at 14 and 18 by taking advantage of Texas Lutheran mistakes and took a 20-18 advantage on a service ace by Samantha Ladewig. The set featured three more ties and two lead changes before it was over, as the Tornados broke a 22-all tie and scored the final three points on two kills by Chipman and another by Alison Pringle with Ladewig providing the assist on each play.

Concordia (4-3, ASC 0-1), which was attempting to earn its first conference win over the Bulldogs in 25 tries, went up 3-2 in the second set when Martinez set up Affolter for the kill. However, the hosts rattled off five straight points courtesy of getting two kills apiece from Gayla Sotello and Vanecia Spencer during the span to take the lead for good. Two kills by Sagebiel made it 22-14 before Martin's service ace sealed the 25-20 outcome.

The fourth set proved to be the biggest barn burner with 15 ties. The Tornados racked up the first two points on attacking errors and built an 11-8 lead on an Emma Clifford kill. When an attacking error by Chipman made it 11-10 in favor of Concordia, the teams stayed tied or within one point of each other until an attacking error by Affolter put the Bulldogs ahead by a 21-19 score. But Concordia did not give up and was able to tie the score up three more times to keep the teams playing beyond 25 points. The Tornados seized the lead for the first time since holding a 13-12 advantage on a block by Clifford and Stacy Manship that made it 26-25, After a Sotello kill tied the score again at 26, Ladewig set up Chipman and Pringle for kills to give the Tornados the set win as well as the momentum.

Playing in front of an enthusiastic home crowd, Texas Lutheran shook off the third set loss and was easily able to force a fifth and deciding set. Trailing 4-3 following a kill by Kalynn White, the Bulldogs racked up eight straight points to go ahead by seven. The lead ballooned up to 20-8 before it all ended on a Tornado service error.

Beginning with a kill by Chipman, Concordia appeared to be in control of the fifth set and built up an 8-5 lead without trailing when the teams switched sides. The Tornado advantage became 9-6 on a service error by Spencer. Capped by Sagebiel's kill, the Bulldogs came back to life and recorded four straight points to go ahead 10-9. After an attacking error by Sofia Klepper tied the score at 10, Chipman tried to hammer home a kill behind the entire Bulldog defense to put the Tornados ahead again, but the ball barely sailed out of bounds to put Texas Lutheran up 11-9. The Bulldogs took over from there and iced the thriller on consecutive kills by Klepper.

Concordia was led by Martinez and Chipman's double-double performances. Martinez finished with 24 assists and 11 digs, while Chipman had 12 kills and 10 digs. White recorded 14 kills while hitting at a .263 clip and Kevyn Jackson added a match-high 22 digs. Ladewig posted 18 kills and a match-high three service aces.

Pacing Texas Lutheran (6-2, ASC 2-0) was Manda Martin, who had a double-double of the assist-dig variety with 42 and 17, respectively. Sagebiel led all players from both teams with 16 kills and a .406 hitting percentage, while Spencer had 14 kills and Davina Hirst contributed 18 digs.

Concordia will host Hardin-Simmons for its home opener on Saturday, Sept. 17 at 3 p.m.
-agate-
Texas Lutheran def. Concordia, 3-2 (22-25, 25-20, 26-28, 25-16, 15-10)