Box Score

After a brief rest from Saturday's win at home, the Mayville State Comets traveled to Moorhead, Minn. for a non-conference battle against NCAA D-III Concordia College. The Comets last faced the Cobbers at home on September 17th in a 3-0 sweep for MSU, and were able to come back home with a 3-1 victory tonight.

The Comets started things off well in the first set and ran out to a 5-1 lead, only to see the Cobbers counter it back and tie things up at 8. The game would be tied 5 more times on the way to 14 all until MSU was able to break loose to create a 4-point spread, causing Concordia to call a timeout at the 18-14 mark. Cassidy Miller was able to help keep the Comets lead in steady control with several kills, but the Cobbers fought back with kills by Haley Cuppett to help them come within 2 at 23-21, advantage Comets. The Cobbers took another time out after a Victoria Johnson kill made it 24-21 for MSU, but the Comets pulled away in the end to finish the first set with a Hannah Bliss kill, taking the first set 25-22. 

It was a different beginning for the Comets in the second set, as they got behind early and at a quick rate. After getting rattled a bit and letting the Cobbers jump out to a 5-0 lead, a timeout couldn't break the Cobbers momentum right away. Concordia would build their lead to as much as 10, making it 13-3 in their favor and leaving the Comets a big hole to dig out of. MSU decided it was time to turn things around and found a nice 5-point spark, largely aided by some Cobbers making attack errors and getting off their game at times. The Comets continued to chip away at the lead, narrowing it down to 2 with some kills from Rumor Stokes, Hannah Bliss and Cassidy Miller while taking advantage of more Cobber errors in the process. They would reach it to the 22-24 mark after a Victoria Johnson kill, but a bad set by the Comets gave the second set to the Cobbers, with a 25-22 win for them. 

The Comets traded blows back and forth early in the third set of the night, reaching ties at 5 and 6 until they found some momentum to build upon. Kiana Johnson, Victoria Johnson and Hannah Bliss were there once again on the Comet front lines to help build the team to a 13-8 lead and cause a Cobber timeout. The lead would remain at 5 as the game reached 18-13 in favor of the Comets, and some balanced attacking from Cassidy Miller, Hannah Bliss, and both Kiana and Victoria Johnson helped carry the Comets on a 7-3 run to take Set 3, 25-16. 

The Cobbers would not go away easy in the fourth set for a good portion of it, as the two teams traded blows with ten ties on the way to 16. Each team was trying to break loose and go on an extended run, with the Comets being able to do just that towards the finish. MSU found the right groove to end the night on, going on an impressive 9-1 run to end the contest. Hannah Bliss put the finishing touch on the night with a kill to take the match for the Comets, 25-17. 

Comets Head Coach Lindsey Johnson felt it was a good win to learn something from for her team, especially when playing on the road. "It's always nice to get a win on the road, especially against a quality team. I felt like we hit a few road bumps tonight, but a positive was we found a way to win which is very important at this point in the season."

The Comets had three players in double figures in kills tonight - Cassidy Miller with 13,  while Hannah Bliss and Victoria Johnson each had 11. Jana Mehus helped pace the Comets with her 43 Assists on the night. Defensively, the Comets were all over the court , collecting 93 digs as a team. Jayden Warner once again led the team with 30, followed by Mason Hart with 20, then Natalie Hadrava and Jana Mehus each with 10. Mehus has recorded back-to-back games with double-double efforts in assists and digs. Victoria Johnson also added 3 solo blocks in the game.  

The (12-11, 1-5 NSAA) Comets now have a two-game winning streak as they head into another conference battle this Wednesday at home at 7 p.m. versus Presentation College.