SEWARD, Neb. – The top two seeds in the GPAC tournament held serve at home in the conference semifinals on Wednesday night, setting up a showdown between the second-ranked Concordia University, Nebraska Volleyball team and top-ranked Northwestern. The Bulldogs (24-2) put together perhaps their finest performance of the season on Wednesday in vanquishing third-seeded and 20th-ranked Midland, 25-17, 25-20, 25-14. That victory means that Head Coach Ben Boldt’s program has reached the conference tournament championship match for the fourth-straight year. This will be the second year in a row that Concordia will play at Northwestern in the GPAC final.
GPAC Tournament
Championship – Saturday, Nov. 16 at No. 1 Northwestern (29-0, 16-0 GPAC), 7 p.m.
--Max Country | Live Webcast | Live Stats | Location: Bultman Center (Orange City, Iowa)
--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
· The GPAC tournament has gone according to seeding with the lone exception of fifth-seeded Hastings winning at fourth-seeded Morningside in the quarterfinals. Concordia has made its way to the championship match with straight-sets home wins over Dakota Wesleyan and No. 20 Midland. On the other side of the bracket, No. 1 Northwestern defeated College of Saint Mary in four sets and Hastings in three. In terms of national tournament qualification, the Red Raiders have clinched a bid as the GPAC regular season champion while Concordia is a lock, Midland is a virtual lock and Morningside is a potential at-large team. Official national qualifiers will be announced by the NAIA at 12 p.m. CT on Monday, Nov. 18.
· In the third meeting this season between the two rivals, the Bulldogs exerted their dominance over Midland in the GPAC semifinals. Concordia owned advantages of .232 to .083 in hitting percentage, 43-27 in kills and 65-50 in digs and jumped out to significant leads in all three sets. It was a particularly fine night for the Bulldog back row as Becca Gebhardt totaled 19 digs and Ashley Keck added 11. Offensively, six Concordia attackers notched at least four kills, led by nine from Keck and eight apiece from Gabi Nordaker and Kya Scott. The Bulldogs have now won six of the past seven meetings with Midland.
· Gebhardt and Keck have continued their ascension up the program’s all-time lists. With her 19 digs versus Midland, Gebhardt leapfrogged Jocelyn Garcia (1,594) for fourth place on the career digs list with 1,610. Meanwhile, Keck moved up another rung on the kills list to 13th with 912 kills. Keck recently passed the likes of Amanda Kisker (906) and Jaelle Rodenbeck (902). In addition, All-American Gabi Nordaker continues hold down program all-time rankings of third in blocks (581) and fourth in kills (1,384).
· Boldt will lead his team up against a No. 1-ranked opponent for the third time this season. Back on Aug. 24, Concordia edged defending national champion and then top-rated Indiana Wesleyan in five sets in a match that took place in Columbia, Mo. The Bulldogs also played a five-set home match with No. 1 Northwestern on Sept. 28. The Red Raiders came out on top, winning by a score of 15-12 in the fifth set. Northwestern was also sitting at No. 1 in the NAIA when the Bulldogs traveled to Orange City for last year’s GPAC tournament title match. Northwestern prevailed in five sets. Four of the past five Concordia-Northwestern matches have gone to five sets with the Bulldogs winning two of those contests.
· Entering this year’s postseason, the Bulldogs had reached at least the semifinal round of the GPAC tournament in five straight seasons. That stretch includes GPAC tournament runner up claims in 2021, 2022 and 2023. In each of those GPAC tournament finals, Concordia went on the road (defeated by Jamestown in 2021 and 2022 and by Northwestern in 2023). Additionally, the Bulldogs have qualified for the conference tournament for the 19th straight season. They reached the GPAC tournament final for the first time in program history in 2015 when they were the runner up to Midland. Concordia was also a conference tournament runner up back in 1996 (prior to the formation of the GPAC).
· Under the direction of Ben and Angie Boldt, the Bulldogs have posted respective GPAC regular season place finishes of seventh, third, third, fifth, third, first and second over their seven years. The 15 GPAC wins recorded by the 2024 team have set a new program record for conference victories in a single season. The previous standard was 14 by the ’23 team that shared the GPAC regular season title with Jamestown and Northwestern. In another first for the program, the 2024 Bulldogs went a perfect 8-0 in conference road matches. No other Concordia Volleyball team has gone undefeated in GPAC road contests since the conference went to a 16-match regular season slate. Over seven seasons, the Boldts have led the Bulldogs to a combined conference mark of 78-33.
· Heading into the championship match, the Bulldogs sports GPAC team rankings of first in kills per set (14.27), second in hitting percentage (.239), third in digs per set (18.50), third in blocks per set (2.35) and 10th in aces per set (1.24). On the individual conference leaderboards, Keck ranks third in kills per set (3.43) and Nordaker ranks second in blocks per set (1.35). Nationally, Concordia ranks third in kills per set and tied for 13th in hitting percentage.
The opponent
Northwestern will attempt to stay unbeaten and claim GPAC tournament titles in back-to-back years. The Red Raiders have been a perennially high achieving team under Head Coach Kyle Van Den Bosch, who is in his 20th season. Van Den Bosch led Northwestern to a national runner up finish in 2023 as part of a tenure that includes 14 national tournament appearances and a combined 13 GPAC championships (entering 2024). Northwestern boasts the reigning GPAC Player of the Year in Jazlin Douma, who paces the GPAC with an average of 4.32 kills per set. Douma pairs with Alysen Dexter on a lethal pin hitter combo. The Red Raiders also trot out the GPAC’s leading blocker in Zavyr Metger (1.89 blocks per set). Among GPAC squads, Northwestern ranks first in blocks per set (3.34), first in hitting percentage (.268), second in kills per set (13.33), third in aces per set (1.56) and 10th in digs per set (16.11). The Red Raiders own a 19-match home win streak dating back to a five-set loss to College of Saint Mary on Sept. 29, 2023.
2024 GPAC Tournament
Quarterfinals – Saturday, Nov. 9
(1) Northwestern def. (8) College of Saint Mary, 3-1
(5) Hastings def. (4) Morningside, 3-1
(3) Midland def. (6) Dordt, 3-0
(2) Concordia def. (7) Dakota Wesleyan, 3-0
Semifinals – Wednesday, Nov. 13
(1) Northwestern def. (5) Hastings, 3-0
(2) Concordia def. (3) Midland, 3-0
Championship – Saturday, Nov. 16
(2) Concordia at (1) Northwestern, 7 p.m.