Bulldog Weekly Report (Dec. 15, 2015)

By Jacob Knabel on Dec. 15, 2015 in Athletic Announcements

Bulldog Booster Club Athletes of the Week

Female: Quinn Wragge, Basketball

Wragge, a native of Crofton, Neb., totaled a combined 43 points on 18-for-27 (.667) shooting as 14th-ranked Concordia went 3-0 last week. The 6-foot freshman scored a career high 20 points (9-for-9 from the field) in the blowout of York College. She is averaging 11.1 points and 5.6 rebounds this season.

Male: Jamie Pearson, Basketball

Pearson, who hails from Ypsilanti, Mich., enjoyed another impressive offensive week as he put up 57 points while going 10-for-15 from 3-point range over last week’s pair of home GPAC victories. Pearson ranks third among GPAC players with a scoring average of 24.4 points per game. He has scored 30 or more points four times this season.

News and notes:

Recapping the fall: The fall of 2015 saw three Bulldog teams make runs to GPAC title games and a pair of programs made their first-ever national tournament appearances (men’s soccer and volleyball). Concordia, the 2014-15 GPAC all-sports champion, closed the fall at No. 4 in the conference’s all-sports standings. For a complete wrap up of the fall sports season, click HERE.

Volleyball finishes with top 25 ranking: A 26-9 overall record and six wins over ranked opponents allowed the 2015 Concordia volleyball team to claim a spot in the postseason edition of the NAIA coaches’ top 25 poll. Head coach Scott Mattera’s squad checked in at No. 22, marking the first time the program has finished a season with a national ranking since the 2000 Bulldogs won the GPAC title and were ranked 18th in the final poll. This year’s squad rose as high as No. 15 in the national poll. For more on the 2015 season, click HERE.

Honors roll in for Garcia, Kavanaugh: Postseason honors poured in last week for Bulldog volleyball standouts Jocelyn Garcia and Alayna Kavanaugh. Both were named NAIA honorable mention All-Americans while also receiving placement on the American Volleyball Coaches Association NAIA West Central Region team. Garcia earned the region’s Libero of the Year award. In addition, Annie Friesen collected honorable mention all-region recognition.

Bulldog Coaches Show airs every Thursday at 4 p.m. CT: New this year is the Bulldog Coaches Show, which runs for a half hour every Thursday beginning at 4 p.m. CT on KAWL 1370-AM. The show can also be heard live via 104.9 Max Country’s website or by downloading the TuneIn Radio app and then searching “KAWL.” This week’s broadcast schedule for live radio coverage on Max Country will include Friday’s basketball doubleheader at Dordt. Tipoff times are 5 and 7 p.m.

Concordia Sports Network: Live webcasts for most home varsity contests can be accessed by visitinghttp://www.cune.edu/csn at game time. Check team schedules/results pages for webcast dates. Scrimmages, exhibitions and junior varsity events are not broadcasted.

Men’s Basketball

  • Monster offensive performances fueled a pair of GPAC home victories in last week’s action. The Bulldogs defeated Dordt, 100-95, in overtime on Dec. 9 and then cruised to a 94-79 win over Mount Marty on Dec. 12. Third-year head coach Ben Limback’s squad improved to 7-1 in games played inside Walz Arena. On the year, the Bulldogs are 8-3 overall and 4-3 in league play (tied for sixth). To read recaps of recent action, click HERE.
  • Concordia has now reached the 90-point mark in five of the season’s first 11 games. The Bulldogs have tallied at least 80 points in all but one contest. They are 5-0 when scoring more than 90 points. Limback’s bunch ranks 17th among all NAIA Division II teams in scoring average (88.8). It ranks even higher in field goal percentage – 14th (.490) – and free throw percentage – 16th (.746).
  • Over last week’s two wins, Concordia recorded combined shooting percentages of 56.1 (64-for-114) from the field, 48.9 (22-for-45) from 3-point range and 83.0 (44-for-53) from the free throw line. Chandler Folkerts (10-for-10) and Robby Thomas (8-for-8) were both perfect from the field in Saturday’s win over Mount Marty. That performance vaulted Folkerts to No. 10 on the national leaderboard in field goal percentage (.621).
  • Folkerts and Thomas are poised to become the 27th and 28th members of the program’s 1,000-point club. Folkerts, who posted a pair of 20-plus point games last week, is knocking on the door of quadruple digits with 994 points over 71 career games. Thomas isn’t far behind having totaled 927 points in his 92 games as a Bulldog. Last season Joel Haywood surpassed the 1,000-point plateau. Concordia’s all-time leading scorer is Jon Ziegler, who piled up 2,099 points from 2004 to 2007. Ziegler is one of only two 2,000-point scorers in school history.
  • Dynamic senior point guard Jamie Pearson extended his active streak of consecutive 20-point games to seven by going for 36 and 21, respectively, in last week’s home wins. The 36-point outing versus Dordt put him one point shy of his career best 37-point performance in the overtime victory over then No. 8 Bellevue. Pearson has reached the 30-point mark four times and the 20-point mark eight times this season. In conference games only, the native of Ypsilanti, Mich., is averaging 27.1 points.
  • The win over Dordt marked the third time already this season that Concordia has played an overtime game at home. The Bulldogs have won in each instance having also defeated Bellevue (97-96) and Morningside (110-99) in extra-session affairs. Limback’s first two seasons at the helm of the program saw just one overtime game – a 108-106 loss to Northwestern on Jan. 10, 2015. Five of Concordia’s first seven GPAC games have been decided either in overtime or by a margin of seven points or less.
  • Thomas swatted nine shots last week, putting him within striking distance climbing above Scott Erstmeyer (173 blocks) for the No. 2 spot on the program’s all-time blocks list. Thomas (162 blocks) currently ranks third on the list with Glen Snodgrass (188 blocks) at No. 1. Last season Thomas broke the school single-season blocks record with 71 rejections. Thomas ranks eighth among all NAIA Division II players in blocks per game (2.36).
  • One of the most prolific trios in the GPAC, Concordia’s threesome of Folkerts, Pearson and Thomas averages a combined 55.7 points per game. In Saturday’s win over Mount Marty, all three put up more than 20 points in combining for 68 of the team’s 94 points. Among GPAC players, the Bulldog standouts rank third (Pearson, 24.4), ninth (Folkerts, 16.8) and 17th (Thomas, 14.5), respectively, in scoring average.
  • Concordia will play just once this week as it closes the first semester of the school year. After completing finals, the Bulldogs will travel to Sioux Center, Iowa, on Friday for another battle with Dordt (8-6, 4-3 GPAC). Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. CT. The Defenders have won five of their last six games with the only loss during that stretch coming at Concordia. Dordt is 6-0 at home this season.

Women’s Basketball

  • As part of a hectic three-games-in-four-days stretch, the 14th-ranked Bulldogs won by comfortable margins of at least 18 points in each outing (all at home). Concordia started the win streak with an 86-54 win over Dordt and continued it with triumphs over York College (111-65) and Mount Marty (77-59). Tenth-year head coach Drew Olson’s squad moved to 6-1 at home this season. The Bulldogs are 7-3 overall and 4-3 in conference play (sixth). To read recaps of recent action, clickHERE.
  • Concordia has consistently treated Walz Arena crowds to 3-point shooting displays throughout the early part of the season. The Bulldogs went 36-for-98 (.367) from 3-point range last week. Their 16 treys in the blowout of York equaled a season high. In home games, Concordia is shooting 39.2 percent (82-for-209) from beyond the arc with an average of 11.7 3-point field goals per contest. Concordia now ranks second among all NAIA Division II teams with an average of 10.3 made 3-pointers per game. The threes have predominantly come from four players: Brenleigh Daum (20 3-point field goals), Sydney Feller (19), Becky Mueller (19) and Shelby Quinn (13).
  • Behind their torrid 3-point shooting, the Bulldogs continue to rank as one of the highest-scoring teams in the nation. Concordia leads the GPAC with a scoring average of 83.1 points per game – a figure that ranks fifth among all NAIA Division II teams. That average is also right in line with the 2014-15 national runner up’s school-record production (83.3).
  • Freshman Quinn Wragge reached double figures in scoring in all three games last week. She put up a career best 20 points on 9-for-9 shooting from the field in the rout of York. In that contest she knocked down her first career 3-point field goal. The native of Crofton, Neb., leads the team in minutes per game (24.2) and rebounds per game (5.6) and ranks second behind Mueller in scoring (11.1).
  • With last week’s string of blowout wins, Concordia moved up to No. 13 nationally in scoring margin (17.8). All but one of the Bulldogs’ seven wins have come by double-digit margins (71-66 win at Doane). Despite the losses of four key seniors from the 35-win 2014-15 squad, Concordia has retained its identity as a team that causes turnovers (13.4 steals per game) and shoots threes (103 made 3-point field goals) in building big leads.
  • The substantial leads allowed Olson to use his bench liberally. Thirteen different Bulldogs played at least 10 minutes or more in the win over York. Twelve of them saw at least that much action a day earlier in the victory over Dordt. Impressively, junior Carissa Gutz needed only eight minutes to pile up 11 points versus York. She went 3-for-4 from 3-point range.
  • Last week Quinn cracked the starting lineup for the first time this season, getting the nod in all three home victories. Quinn, who has now made 25 career starts, has an active consecutive games played streak of 68. The native of Bellevue, Neb., is averaging career highs across the board – points (7.7), rebounds (3.3), assists (2.1) and steals (1.7). She’s also shooting 40.6 percent from 3-point range.
  • Concordia is off to a solid start while playing with a relatively youthful roster. Only 13.5 of the team’s total minutes played have gone to seniors. A high percentage of minutes have been consumed by juniors (31.6), sophomores (37.0) and freshman (17.9). Mueller is the lone senior that sees regular court time. The starting lineup includes sophomores in Daum and Mary Janovich and a freshman in Wragge.
  • This week’s schedule includes just a single game – a rematch with Dordt (4-9, 1-6 GPAC) at 5 p.m. CT in Sioux Center, Iowa, on Friday. The Defenders will be aiming to stop a seven-game skid that includes losses to four ranked teams. Dordt’s lone home victory this season was a 64-53 triumph over Northwestern (currently ranked 22nd).

Wrestling

  • The ninth-ranked Bulldogs had last week off after last competing at the Battle of the Rockies hosted by the University of Great Falls on Dec. 4-5 and the Buena Vista University Open on Dec. 5. For the second-straight national poll, fourth-year head coach Dana Vote’s program is ranked ninth. Concordia continues to lead the North Group (which includes all GPAC schools) with 195 total team points. In dual action, the Bulldogs possess records of 4-2 overall and 2-0 in GPAC action. For more information on Concordia wrestling, clickHERE.
  • A group of seven Bulldogs owns individual national rankings: No. 12 Kodie Cole (133), No. 8 Andrew Schulte (149), No. 7 Jr Lule (157), No. 11 Tommy Bailey (165), No. 5 Matt Atwood (184), No. 13 Ken Burkhardt Jr. (197) and No. 5 Ceron Francisco (285). Atwood made the biggest jump, moving from 13th to fifth at 184 pounds.
  • Vote’s roster sports eight individuals with 10 or more wins on the season. Atwood joined the 10+ win club by collecting a pair of wins during dual action on Dec. 4. One of his wins came over Oklahoma City’s fourth-ranked Derek Sivertsen (formerly ranked No. 1).
    • Ken Burkhardt Jr. (197) – 17-6
    • Tommy Bailey (165) – 17-10
    • Andrew Schulte (149) – 16-6
    • Jr Lule (157) – 15-5
    • Ceron Francisco (285) – 15-6
    • Travian Cooke (174) – 13-7
    • Daniel Melcher (149) – 13-8
    • Matt Atwood (184) – 10-2
  • The Bulldogs continue a break in their schedule. They return to action Saturday, Jan. 2 for the Viking Warrior Open in Fremont, Neb. The action is set to begin at 9 a.m. CT. Concordia will make its next home appearance on Jan. 21 when Doane visits for a GPAC dual.