RIVER FOREST, Ill. - Marian University women's volleyball (5-17, 2-4 NACC) fell in five sets to Concordia Chicago with set scores of 18-25, 30-28, 21-25, 25-22, and 15-10.

The Sabre offense had a strong showing hitting .182, the fourth-highest in a single match this season.  Marian opened strong leading the Cougars 20-18 in the first set before scoring five unanswered to close out the set.  The Sabre looked poised to take the second as well leading 24-21, but CUC was able to rally and tie the set at 24-24.  Marian had three more opportunities to take the set, which went well into extras, before Concordia Chicago evened the sets.

Marian was able to bounce back in the third leading 20-19 before using a 4-1 spurt to take the first marginal lead of the set.  A service error from CUC then gave Marian a 2-1 advantage.  Marian jumped out to a 9-6 lead to open the fourth but the Cougars once again were able to battle back.  CUC would use an 11-3 run to take a 17-12 advantage and eventually force a fifth set.

The Cougars were able to use the momentum from winning the fourth to jump out to a 7-3 lead to open the fifth and never looked back.

The Marian offense was led by sophomore Riley Shores who posted a career-high 19 kills off of a .245 hitting percentage.  Junior Serina Pehowski had the first double-double of her career with 16 kills and 11 digs all off of a .351 hitting percentage, while fellow junior Kaitlyn Merrill added 16 kills.  The back row was led by junior Reagan Jasica who had 21 digs.

Marian travels to Dominican tomorrow, Saturday, Oct. 8, for a noon first serve.