SEWARD, Neb. – It’s time for the postseason. With the postseason comes a second opportunity to win a conference championship. The fifth-ranked Concordia University Volleyball team garnered the No. 3 seed in the conference tournament and will host sixth-seeded College of Saint Mary on Saturday in the GPAC quarterfinals. This will mark the third meeting this season between the two sides. Head Coach Ben Boldt’s squad took both regular season matchups in straight sets. The Bulldogs enter the tournament at 21-4 overall (12-4 GPAC).
GPAC Quarterfinals
Saturday, Nov. 5 vs. No. 12 College of Saint Mary (19-7, 9-7 GPAC), 7:30 p.m.
--Live Webcast/Stats | 104.9 Max Country | Location: Friedrich Arena (Seward, Neb.)
--Admission: $10 for adults/senior citizens, $3 for K-12; only those with NAIA passes and GPAC student ID’s are admitted free of charge.
By the numbers
· With the release of the NAIA coaches’ poll on Oct. 26, the Bulldogs garnered the highest ranking in the history of the program. Concordia landed at No. 5 after having slotted in at No. 6 four times previously over the past two years. In the six NAIA coaches’ polls released so far in 2022, The Bulldogs have attained respective rankings of 11th, 10th, eighth, sixth, sixth and fifth. Concordia is looking to make it four years in a row with top 25 national finishes. Under Boldt, the Bulldogs garnered final postseason national rankings of 14th in 2019, eighth in 2020 and sixth in 2021. Concordia is one of only four NAIA volleyball programs that have reached bracket play at the national tournament in each of the past three seasons. Five of the current nine teams in the national rankings are from the GPAC: No. 2 Jamestown, No. 4 Midland, No. 5 Concordia, No. 6 Northwestern and No. 9 Dakota Wesleyan.
· Two matches last week with hitting percentages north of .300 helped put the Bulldogs back on top of the national leaderboard in hitting percentage. An off night on Tuesday in the loss to No. 4 Midland dropped Concordia’s season hitting percentage to .271 (still good for No. 1 nationally). The NAIA top five in hitting percentage includes Marian (.269), Jamestown (.269), Missouri Baptist (.258) and Park-Gilbert (.256). Concordia has hit for a high efficiency while led by Bree Burtwistle and her average of 11.19 assists per set. Burtwistle has helped four teammates rack up more than 200 kills this season: Gabi Nordaker (265), Camryn Opfer (245), Carly Rodaway (223) and Ashley Keck (217). Defensively, the Bulldogs have limited their opponents to .160 hitting behind 83 blocks from Nordaker and 389 digs from Rebecca Gebhardt.
· In the regular season finale on Tuesday versus Midland, the Bulldogs were playing with a chance to earn the No. 2 seed in the GPAC tournament. Unfortunately, the Warriors held Concordia to .048 hitting and emerged from Seward with the win, 25-20, 25-23, 25-23. That result snapped a 12-match home winning streak for the Bulldogs. The positive takeaway from the match was Concordia’s blocking. Boldt’s squad out-blocked Midland, 13-7, as four Bulldogs were in on multiple blocks: Carly Rodaway (four), Gabi Nordaker (four), Camryn Opfer (four) and Kalee Wiltfong (two). After sitting out four straight matches due to injury, Wiltfong returned to the starting lineup against Midland. Meanwhile, the Warriors claimed the conference’s No. 2 seed and a regular season sweep of Concordia.
· The Seward High School product Opfer is moving up the ladder on the program’s all-time lists. She currently sports school career rankings of sixth in digs (1,231) and seventh in kills (1,193). Opfer is creeping up on Darcy Lindner (1,204 kills) and Renae Beikmann (1,223) on the kills list. Opfer is enjoying another fine season with totals of 245 kills, 294 digs and 36 blocks to go along with a .221 hitting percentage from the outside. The next highest career kill totals on the current team are owned by Nordaker (830) and Wiltfong (733). In last week’s action, Nordaker surpassed 300 career blocks (now at 311).
· The Bulldogs will be attempting to defeat College of Saint Mary for a third time this season. During the regular season, Concordia defeated the Flames, 25-14, 26-24, 25-13, in Seward on Sept. 17 and then went to Omaha and won, 25-18, 25-18, 25-13, on Oct. 22. In the first meeting, the Bulldogs outhit CSM, .380 to .135, while getting 13 kills apiece from Keck and Nordaker. In the second go-round, Concordia outhit the Flames, .289 to .128, as Keck powered down 14 kills and Opfer posted 10 kills (.476) and 16 digs. Concordia has won three series matchups in a row over CSM.
The opponent
Ranked No. 12 in the NAIA, Head Coach Rick Pruett’s Flames are on track to reach the national tournament for a third time in four seasons. College of Saint Mary ended the regular season by digging out of a 2-0 hole to beat Hastings in five sets. Much like Concordia, the Flames come after their opponents with a balanced attack. Five CSM hitters have collected at least 190 kills: Lexie Langley (256), Makenna Freeman (251), Kamryn Williams (219), Grace Werner (214) and Rachel Rosenquist (190). Pruett’s squad also features a top-notch libero in Rachel Cushing (6.37 digs per set), the reigning GPAC Libero of the Year. On the season, the Flames have outhit their opponents, .207 to .158, and have averaged more kills per set, 13.53 to 11.24.
The Concordia/CSM winner will advance to the GPAC semifinals and play either second-seeded Midland or seventh-seeded Hastings. Match time will be at 7 p.m. CT on Wednesday (Nov. 9) at the home site of the highest seed that advances.
GPAC tournament
Quarterfinals – Saturday, Nov. 5
(8) Dordt at (1) Jamestown, 7 p.m.
(5) Dakota Wesleyan at (4) Northwestern, 7 p.m.
(6) College of Saint Mary at (3) Concordia, 7:30 p.m.
(7) Hastings at (2) Midland, 7 p.m.
Semifinals – Wednesday, Nov. 9
1/8 winner vs. 4/5 winner, 7 p.m.
3/6 winner vs. 2/7 winner, 7 p.m.
Championship – Saturday, Nov. 12
Highest remaining seed hosts, time TBA