SEWARD, Neb. – The 2024 regular season wrapped up on Tuesday night with the second-ranked Concordia University, Nebraska Volleyball team taking care of No. 22 Midland in four sets. Regardless of that outcome, the Bulldogs had already locked up the No. 2 seed in the GPAC tournament. The postseason will begin on Saturday with the conference quarterfinal round, which will put Concordia up against seventh-seeded Dakota Wesleyan. Head Coach Ben Boldt’s program will host in the quarterfinals for the fifth time in six years.
GPAC Quarterfinals
Saturday, Nov. 9 vs. Dakota Wesleyan, 13-15, 7-9 GPAC, 5 p.m.
--Max Country | Live Webcast | Live Stats | 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
· There was no margin for error this season in the race for a GPAC regular season title. Northwestern (27-0, 16-0 GPAC) finished one game ahead of Concordia (22-2, 15-1 GPAC) at the top of the league standings. The Red Raiders were dominant in winning 13 of 16 GPAC regular season matches in straight sets. Ultimately, the regular season title came down to the Concordia-Northwestern matchup in Seward on Sept. 28. The Red Raiders managed to outlast the Bulldogs, 25-17, 16-25, 16-25, 25-15, 15-12. Entering the postseason, Northwestern and Concordia hold down the Nos. 1 and 2 spots, respectively, in the NAIA coaches’ poll.
· 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 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.
· Concordia put another quality win on the resume on Tuesday by defeating No. 22 Midland (16-10, 12-4 GPAC) in Fremont. The Bulldogs dropped the first set before proceeding to win, 22-25, 25-22, 25-22, 25-19, behind advantages of .192 to .112 in hitting percentage, 53-49 in kills, 17-12 in blocks and 76-67 in digs. Standout outside hitter Ashley Keck led all players with 17 kills (.295) to go along with her 10 digs and four blocks. Meanwhile, Ava Greene and Gabi Nordaker were credited with eight blocks apiece. Additionally, Savannah Shelburne contributed three aces and Becca Gebhardt paced the back row with 13 digs. Concordia has won each of the past four regular season meetings with Midland.
· Entering this year’s postseason, the Bulldogs have 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 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.
· At the close of the regular season, the Bulldogs leaders by category are Ashley Keck in kills (294), Gabi Nordaker in hitting percentage (.352) and blocks (116), Savannah Shelburne in assists (540) and aces (29) and Becca Gebhardt in digs (357). In addition to Keck, there are four Concordia players with more than 150 kills on the season: Ella Waters (228), Nordaker (207), Addie Kirkegaard (191) and Kya Scott (163). Nordaker continues to rank among the program’s top five all-time for career blocks (574) and kills (1,367) while Gebhardt ranks No. 5 in school history or career digs (1,572). Keck (896 career kills) is four kills shy of 900 for her career.
· Heading into the postseason, the Bulldogs sports GPAC team rankings of first in kills per set (14.19), second in hitting percentage (.240), third in digs per set (18.15), third in blocks per set (2.34) and ninth in aces per set (1.24). On the individual conference leaderboards, Keck ranks third in kills per set (3.48) and Nordaker ranks second in blocks per set (1.36). Nationally, Concordia ranks fourth in kills per set and tied for 12th in hitting percentage.
The opponent
Dakota Wesleyan enters the GPAC tournament at 13-15 overall (7-9 GPAC) after finishing 2023 at 19-15 overall (8-8 GPAC). The Tigers enjoyed a major breakthrough in 2021 and 2022 when they won 25 matches both seasons and finished both campaigns at the national tournament. DWU graduated All-American middle blocker Ady Dwight from the 2023 team but did return Second Team All-GPAC setter Kayleigh Hybertson, who ranks third among GPAC setters for assists per set (8.59). In the back row, Elizabeth Tyler ranks second in the GPAC with 5.90 assists per set. As a team, the Tigers sport GPAC rankings of second in digs per set (19.15), fifth in blocks per set (2.00), seventh in aces per set (1.28), eighth in hitting percentage (.161) and ninth in kills per set (11.58). Lindsay Wilber is in her 11th season as head coach at DWU and is the program’s all-time winningest coach. The Bulldogs and Tigers met in Mitchell, S.D., on Oct. 5 with the result being a Concordia win in four sets.
2024 GPAC Tournament
Quarterfinals – Saturday, Nov. 9
(8) College of Saint Mary at (1) Northwestern, 7:30 p.m.
(5) Hastings at (4) Morningside, 7 p.m.
(6) Dordt at (3) Midland, 7 p.m.
(7) Dakota Wesleyan at (2) Concordia, 5 p.m.
Semifinals – Wednesday, Nov. 13
1/8 winner vs. 4/5 winner, 7 p.m.
2/7 winner vs. 3/6 winner, 7 p.m.
Championship – Saturday, Nov. 16
Highest seed hosts, time TBA