SEWARD, Neb. – A 3-0 start to conference play comes with the reward of a midweek break for the third-ranked Concordia University Volleyball team. Head Coach Ben Boldt’s squad handled both College of Saint Mary and No. 20 Midland in four sets in home action this past week. The 10-1 Bulldogs also own a conference road win over Mount Marty as part of another sterling start to a season. In this week’s lone outing, Concordia will host Hastings in closing out a stretch of three-straight home matches.
This Week
Wednesday, Sept. 18 – Bye
Saturday, Sept. 21 vs. Hastings (7-3, 1-1 GPAC), 3 p.m.
--Live Webcast | Live Stats | Location: Friedrich Arena (Seward, Neb.)
By the numbers
· The victory over No. 20 Midland gave the Bulldogs a fourth this season against teams currently ranked in the top 25. Based on the current poll, Concordia’s additional wins over nationally ranked teams have occurred against: No. 7 Indiana Wesleyan University, No. 17 Viterbo University (Wis.) and No. 18 Columbia College (Mo.). The lone defeat came at the hands of now eighth-ranked Bellevue University. According to Massey Ratings, the Bulldogs have played the 11th most challenging schedule in the NAIA to this point in the season. Lofty rankings have become the norm for Concordia, which was placed at No. 1 in the NAIA in two separate polls in 2023.
· It took four sets in both of last week’s outings to get the job done in in-state matchups with College of Saint Mary and No. 20 Midland. The Bulldogs handled the Flames, 25-19, 16-25, 25-14, 25-19, and then defeated the Warriors, 25-21, 25-17, 16-25, 25-17. In those matches, three Concordia attackers totaled more than 20 kills: Ashley Keck (26), Ella Waters (24) and Addie Kirkegaard (21). Waters hit a sparkling .321 from the outside. Other statistical leaders for the week included Lily Psencik in assists (44), Keck in digs (29), Gabi Nordaker in blocks (13) and Ashlyn Wischmeier in aces (three). The Bulldogs outhit the Flames/Warriors by a combined percentage of .229 to .116.
· The two-time All-American Nordaker keeps adding to her career totals and reached a career milestone last week by surpassing 500 blocks. She amassed an impressive nine blocks in the win over College of Saint Mary. In 125 career collegiate matches, Nordaker has totaled 1,248 kills and 507 blocks. In the history of the program, there are only two other players who have tallied at least that many kills and blocks – Katie Werner (1,600 kills and 787 blocks) and Rachel Kirchner (1,315 kills and 760 blocks). In recent action, Nordaker passed Renae Beikmann (1,223 kills) for No. 6 on the program’s all-time kills list. Nordaker has earned four All-GPAC awards (three first-team mentions) in her career.
· Boldt liked what he saw last week whenever Concordia happened to face a degree of adversity. The Bulldogs shook off a rough second set versus CSM and a rough third set versus Midland. In both cases, things snowballed as Concordia got stuck in rotations. Eventually, the tide turned. The Bulldogs also won two particularly long rallies in the battle with the Warriors. Right away in the opening set, Ashley Keck tracked down a ball while diving into the team’s bench. Her hustle kept the play alive before the point was finished with a Kya Scott kill. Then in the second set, Lily Psencik ranged over near the student section to keep a ball alive. Addie Kirkegaard also had a key save in that sequence that pushed Concordia’s lead to 8-4 in the second set (Molli Martin kill).
· Dating back to October 2022, the Bulldogs have gone 22-3 in their past 25 GPAC regular season outings. That stretch includes the 14-2 league mark Concordia posted in 2023 as part of a shared GPAC regular season title run. The Bulldogs also have put together a fine run at home, where they are 4-0 in 2024. During the tenure of Ben and Angie Boldt, the Bulldogs have posted respective home records of 9-4 in 2018, 11-2 in 2019, 10-1 in 2020, 6-5 in 2021, 11-1 in 2022 and 13-1 in 2023. The totals add up to a collective home record of 64-14 from 2018 through the present.
· The matchup with Hastings on Saturday will mark Concordia’s fourth outing of the season against an in-state opponent. The Bulldogs were swept by then 14th-ranked Bellevue University on Aug. 30 before claiming wins over College of Saint Mary and No. 20 Midland last week. Concordia went 7-2 against in-state foes in 2023. The Bulldogs have won each of the past eight series meetings with the Broncos.
The opponent
Concordia got a look at Hastings early this season when the Broncos took part in the Bulldog Bash (Aug. 16-17) and earned a win over Oklahoma City University before suffering a five-set loss to Lewis-Clark State College (Idaho) inside Friedrich Arena. Pegged seventh in the GPAC preseason poll, Hastings returned three All-GPAC players: outside hitter Majesta Valasek (second team), defensive specialist Miriam Miller (honorable mention) and outside hitter Ilse Benne (honorable mention). Sixth-year Head Coach Alex Allard took the 2022 team to the national tournament. So far in conference play, the 2024 squad has beaten Doane (straight sets) and fell at College of Saint Mary (four sets). The Broncos are hitting .193 while their opponents are hitting .162.
Next week
The Bulldogs will return to a two-match week routine next week as they look forward to playing at Doane on Sept. 25 and then at home versus No. 1 Northwestern on homecoming Saturday (Sept. 28). The Red Raiders (13-0, 3-0 GPAC) will attempt to remain unbeaten this Saturday when they play at Dakota Wesleyan.