Bulldog Athletic Association Member (BAAM) Athletes of the Week
Male: Creighton Baughman, Wrestling
A Papillion, Neb., native, Creighton Baughman went 5-0 at the Oppenheim Open and won the 141-pound weight class. In the championship match, Baughman earned a 6-4 decision and stayed unbeaten with an 8-0 mark in 2024-25.
Female: Gabi Nordaker, Volleyball
An Omaha native, Gabi Nordaker put together a fine run at the final site of the national tournament as she totaled 31 kills on 56 attempts (.500 hitting percentage) and added eight blocks in three matches. Nordaker helped lead the Bulldogs to the NAIA National Quarterfinals.
2024-25 BAAM Athletes of the Month
October – Carson Fehlhafer (football) / Kierstynn Garner (soccer)
September – Mark Arp (football) / Gabi Nordaker (volleyball)
2024-25 BAAM Athletes of the Week
Dec. 3 – Vaughn Hendrickson (cross country) / Kristin Vieselmeyer (basketball)
Nov. 19 – Daylon Henson (football) / Addie Kirkegaard (volleyball)
Nov. 12 – Keegan Beisel (cross country) / Vaughn Hendrickson (cross country)
Nov. 5 – Angela Banks (soccer) / Austin Jablonski (football)
Oct. 29 – Kierstynn Garner (soccer) / Devin Harris (shooting sports)
Oct. 22 – Taylor Hedke (weightlifting) / Austin Jablonski (football)
Oct. 15 – Kierstynn Garner (soccer) / Hugo Garrote (soccer)
Oct. 8 – Carson Fehlhafer (football) / Kaylee Hinton (shooting sports)
Oct. 1 – Carter McKenna (shooting sports) / Kya Scott (volleyball)
Sept. 24 – Ishane Derman (tennis) / Daylon Henson (football)
Sept. 17 – Mark Arp (football) / Ella Waters (volleyball)
Sept. 10 – Hannah Beintema (cross country); Trey Robertson (cross country)
Sept. 3 – Nolan Fuelberth (soccer); Gabi Nordaker (volleyball)
Aug. 27 – Martin Herrera (soccer); Ashley Keck (volleyball)
News and notes:
BAAM luncheons are held every Tuesday at 12 p.m. CT inside the Dog House Grill, located in the Janzow Campus Center. The luncheons feature reports from head coaches who are in season at the time. For information on how to join BAAM, click HERE. It is not a requirement to be a BAAM member in order to attend the weekly luncheons.
Track & Field set to open indoor season with Friday-Saturday Early Bird Meet: The kickoff to the 2024-25 Concordia University, Nebraska Track & Field indoor season will take place this Friday and Saturday as Head Coach Matt Beisel’s programs host the Bulldog Early Bird Meet. The tentative meet schedule can be found HERE. During the 2024 indoor/outdoor track seasons, the women’s program swept GPAC conference championships and placed third nationally for indoor and 20th nationally for outdoor while the men twice placed third in the GPAC and earned two NAIA top 10 placements. For a season preview, click HERE.
Fall All-GPAC and NAIA Scholar-Athlete award winners announced: Postseason awards for fall sports continue to be announced. In recent weeks, 84 Bulldogs were honored as 2024 NAIA Scholar-Athletes and 36 Concordia student-athletes were recognized as 2024 GPAC All-Conference award winners. The specific honorees can be found by navigating to each fall sport home page on the Concordia Athletics website. Concordia University, Nebraska ranks as the NAIA’s all-time leader in number of Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athletes with 2,526 entering the 2024-25 academic year.
Reviewing fall sport seasons: Each Concordia fall sports season is now complete. Both the women’s soccer and volleyball programs made appearances at NAIA National Championship tournaments and three cross country athletes qualified individually for the national meet. For a detailed look at the 2024 football and men’s soccer seasons, check out season-in-review articles linked below.
Seasons-In-Review: Football | Men’s Soccer.
GPAC network: Back in July, the Great Plains Athletic Conference announced a streaming network designed to bring webcasts from all league members together in one place. The GPAC Network can be accessed online via: https://www.gpacnetwork.com/. The network is also available via a mobile app and smart TVs. The GPAC partnered with Hudl for the creation of the network. In addition to the events that stream on the Concordia Sports Network, 104.9 Max Country will broadcast football and volleyball varsity games this fall. The broadcast schedule can be found HERE.
Bulldog Coaches Show airs every Thursday at 5:30 p.m. CT: The Bulldog Coaches Show is underway in its 10th year of existence. The show airs live for a half hour every Thursday beginning at 5:30 p.m. CT on KTMX-FM 104.9 Max Country. The weekly feature can also be heard live via 104.9 Max Country’s website or by downloading the Max Country app. Throughout the 2024-25 season, Bulldog football, men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball contests will be aired live on Max Country. Parker Cyza serves as the host of the coaches’ show as well as the play-by-play voice for football and basketball. Frank Greene is in his 10th season calling Concordia volleyball.
Concordia Sports Network: Live webcasts for most home varsity contests can be accessed by visiting https://www.cune.edu/athletics/watch-bulldogs at game time. Beginning this 2023-24 academic year, Concordia Athletics began a partnership with Hudl for live video streaming. Live webcast links for away contests are publicized in sport specific releases that preview action for that particular week. Scrimmages, exhibitions and junior varsity events are not broadcasted.
Volleyball
· Final 2024 record: 27-4, 15-1 GPAC; seeded No. 4 at the NAIA final site.
· NAIA National Tournament:
o Opening Round – Won vs. Our Lady of the Lake (Texas), 25-22, 25-19, 25-22, on Nov. 23.
o Pool Play – Won vs. No. 21 The Master’s (Calif.), 25-19, 25-11, 24-26, 25-21, on Dec. 4.
o Pool Play – Won vs. No. 13 Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio), 25-18, 25-15, 25-21, on Dec. 6.
o Quarterfinals – Lost vs. No. 5 Bellevue, 25-21, 24-26, 25-14, 18-25, 12-15, on Dec. 7.
· Links: 2024 Schedule | Roster | Statistics
· Notable: The 2024 journey reached a conclusion on Dec. 7 as the Bulldogs’ bid to reach the national semifinals for the first time in program history came up short. Fourth-seeded Concordia was clipped by fifth-seeded Bellevue in five sets. Head Coach Ben Boldt’s squad advanced to the quarterfinals thanks to wins national tournament wins over Our Lady of the Lake University (Texas), No. 21 The Master’s University (Calif.) and No. 13 Mount Vernon Nazarene University (Ohio). The Bulldogs are one of five NAIA volleyball programs to advance to the national quarterfinals at least three times in the past five seasons. The others are Eastern Oregon, Jamestown, Midland and Northwestern. In the three matches Concordia played at the final site in Sioux City, Iowa, its statistical leaders included Ashley Keck in kills (41), Ava Greene in blocks (16), Gabi Nordaker in hitting percentage (.500), Becca Gebhardt in digs (55), Lily Psencik in assists (71) and Psencik and Ashlyn Wischmeier in aces (four apiece). The All-American Nordaker concluded her five-year collegiate career with 1,433 kills and 597 blocks (numbers that both rank in the top four of the program’s all-time lists). In addition, Gebhardt moved to No. 3 on the program’s all-time digs list with 1,701 for her career and Keck will enter her senior season in 2025 with 979 career kills. Last week, Keck, Nordaker and Ella Waters were each named to the American Volleyball Coaches’ Association NAIA West Central All-Region Team. Under the Boldts, Concordia has proven it can reload from year-to-year even as it graduates All-America caliber players. The Bulldogs will bring back four All-GPAC players in 2025: Keck (first team), Waters (first team), Addie Kirkegaard (second team) and Savannah Shelburne (honorable mention). Boldt’s overall record in seven seasons as head coach at Concordia stands at 154-51.
· For additional news and notes on Concordia Volleyball, check out the team’s homepage HERE.
Wrestling
· Current dual record: 3-1, 3-1 GPAC.
· Last week:
o 26 competitors represented the program at the Connor Oppenheim Open hosted by Doane on Dec. 7.
· Links: 2024-25 Schedule | Roster | Statistics | NAIA National Rankings
· Notable: In their first action since hosting GPAC Day of Duals No. 1 on Nov. 26, the Bulldogs traveled 26 wrestlers to the Connor Oppenheim Open at Doane this past Saturday. In an event that featured wrestlers from 38 institutions, Concordia came away with 51 total wins and three individual place finishes. Most notably, NAIA 10th-ranked Creighton Baughman won the 141-pound open division and both Cal Price (third place) and Evan Sepanlou (fourth place) took home place finishes in the amateur division. Now in his fifth season of collegiate wrestling, Baughman has improved to 8-0 this season after winning all five of his matches at the Oppenheim Open. All five of his opponents were NAIA wrestlers, including Grand View University (Iowa)’s Drew Woodley, who Baughman defeated, 6-4, in the championship bout. Baughman ran his career Concordia win total to 66 (106 counting his two seasons at Iowa Western Community College). Elsewhere, Steven Barnes went 3-2 at 149 pounds and defeated Waldorf’s 20th-ranked Tyler Okada. Barnes was one of 22 Bulldogs to emerge with at least one victory at the tournament. Concordia competitors with at least three wins at the tournament included Baughman (5-0), Cal Price (4-1), Simon Arredondo (4-2), Sepanlou (4-2), Ramon Arredondo (3-2), Barnes (3-2), Blake Boehmer (3-2) and Mason Garcia (3-2). Head Coach Josh Watts’ squad has competed in four tournaments and four duals to this point in the season. A standalone home dual is coming up on Friday night when the Bulldogs will host eighth-ranked Doane.
· For additional news and notes on the wrestling program, click HERE.
· This week:
o Friday, Dec. 13 vs. No. 8 Doane (3-0, 3-0 GPAC), 7 p.m.
Men’s Basketball
· Current record: 5-3, 2-3 GPAC; receiving votes in NAIA coaches’ poll.
· Last week:
o Lost at No. 23 Morningside, 82-69, on Dec. 4.
o Won vs. Briar Cliff, 87-74, on Dec. 7.
· Links: 2024-25 Schedule | Roster | Statistics | NAIA Coaches’ Poll
· Notable: As part of a full week of GPAC action, Head Coach Ben Limback’s squad dropped an 82-69 decision at No. 23 Morningside on Dec. 4 before coming back home to claim an 87-74 win over Briar Cliff on Dec. 7. The week was representative of what has been an up and down start to league play for the Bulldogs, who rose as high as No. 9 in the NAIA coaches’ poll before dropping to the receiving votes category. In the matchup with Morningside (second already this season), Concordia dug a 16-point hole before eventually getting within a point midway through the second half. Noah Schutte (20 points and seven rebounds) and Tristan Smith (19 points and seven rebounds) combined for 39 points in the loss. Three days later, the Bulldogs played solid defensively in the first half and owned a double-digit advantage for the majority of the second half versus Briar Cliff. Five Concordia players scored in double figures: Schutte (22), Brad Bennett (19), Smith (16), Jaxon Steuve (16) and Hayden Frank (10). Smith also added 12 rebounds, seven assists, four steals and two blocks to his stat line. A fifth-year Bulldog out of Laurel, Neb., Schutte is knocking on the door of 2,000 career points with 1,974 entering this week. In the win over Briar Cliff, Schutte moved past Chandler Folkerts (1,963 points) for No. 3 on the program’s all-time scoring list. Concordia will remain at home on Wednesday night to welcome Hastings to Fridrich Arena. The Bulldogs will then hit the road on Saturday for a contest at new GPAC member Waldorf.
· For additional news and notes on the men’s basketball program, click HERE.
· This week:
o Wednesday, Dec. 11 vs. Hastings (1-7, 0-4 GPAC), 7:45 p.m.
o Saturday, Dec. 14 at Waldorf (3-9, 2-4 GPAC), 3:45 p.m.
Women’s Basketball
· Current record: 5-4, 3-3 GPAC; ranked 5th in NAIA coaches’ poll.
· Last week:
o Lost at Morningside, 70-56, on Dec. 4.
o Lost vs. No. 12 Briar Cliff, 54-42, on Dec. 7.
· Links: 2024-25 Schedule | Roster | Statistics | NAIA Coaches’ Poll
· Notable: It was a tough week for the fifth-ranked Bulldogs, who dropped two conference outings while up against the league’s Sioux City teams. Concordia shot a combined 33.7 percent (33-for-98) from the floor while falling at Morningside, 70-56, and at home to No. 12 Briar Cliff, 54-42. Statistically, senior guard Abby Krieser found the most success in totaling 18 points on 7-for-11 shooting from the floor during the week. A bright spot in the loss at Morningside was the play of freshman Makynna Robbins, who tallied eight points and two steals. Head Coach Drew Olson’s squad now sits at 5-4 overall while having played the NAIA’s second most challenging schedule (according to Massey Ratings). The Bulldogs are 1-3 against top 25 opponents with the win coming at then No. 6 Dakota State University (S.D.) on Nov. 9. Concordia narrowly missed out on an opportunity for a road upset of top-ranked Dordt on Nov. 23. Through nine games, Kendal Brigham remains the team’s leading scorer with an average of 10.4 points per game. The Bulldogs will attempt to get back into the win column this week as they host Hastings on Wednesday and make a trip to new GPAC member Waldorf on Saturday.
· For additional news and notes on the women’s basketball program, click HERE.
· This week:
o Wednesday, Dec. 11 vs. Hastings (6-2, 3-2 GPAC), 6 p.m.
o Saturday, Dec. 14 at Waldorf (2-7, 1-5 GPAC), 2 p.m.