NORTH SIOUX CITY, S.D. – The string of consecutive sets won ended at 20, but the overall unbeaten ride continues for the 10th-ranked Concordia University Volleyball team. An impressive 5-0 week concluded on Saturday (Sept. 3) at the College of Saint Mary/United Sports Academy Labor Day Classic with four-set victories over nonconference NAIA foes Dakota State University (S.D.) and Evangel University (Mo.). On the day, the Bulldogs averaged 14.75 kills per set.
Head Coach Ben Boldt has guided Concordia to a 10-0 start highlighted by Friday’s straight-sets rout of ninth-ranked Viterbo University (Wis.). Saturday’s action marked a cap to nonconference regular season play.
“It was great to see in those situations where our backs were against the wall, we responded,” Boldt said. “We looked at each other and said we were going to play for each other. That’s a theme of ours this year. Our attacking continues to be great. Our challenge is going to be continuing to improve our block and defense.”
There’s no doubt about it, these Bulldogs are tons of fun to watch. Over the four matches this weekend, Concordia hit .296 as a team and had five players with 29 or more kills. There are times when it simply overwhelms the opposition with power. In the first match on Saturday, freshman Ashley Keck helped set the tone with a kill on each of her first six swings. She finished with a team high 16 kills (.500 hitting percentage). In that same win over Dakota State, four other Bulldogs produced double-digit kill totals: Camryn Opfer (14), Gabi Nordaker (12), Kalee Wiltfong (12) and Carly Rodaway (11).
In the face of all that firepower, both Dakota State and Evangel (teams that received votes in the NAIA preseason poll) supplied some pushback. Concordia dropped the second set of both matches and had to rally in the third against the Trojans. Down 21-16 in the third set to Dakota State, the Bulldogs rattled off nine points in a row in showing their championship mettle. The surge began with back-to-back Keck kills. Nordaker later slammed point No. 25 with a kill.
Taking Saturday alone, Opfer paced the team with 26 kills and was followed closely by Keck (24) and Nordaker (24). Concordia’s blocking improved in the day’s second match – nine total blocks. At the controls of the offense, Bree Burtwistle (94 combined assists) has had no trouble spreading the ball around. In the back row, Rebecca Gebhardt piled up 41 digs on the day while Opfer contributed 31. Wiltfong posted seven total blocks. Concordia totaled nine service aces compared to nine service errors over the day’s eight sets.
“We take it day by day. We’re going to take what we learned this weekend and use that as our foundation moving forward,” Boldt said. “We’re excited to get the conference season really underway here. We have a match versus Midland on Wednesday and I think that’s going to be a knock-down, drag-out type of battle. That’s what we play for. We’re happy for the weekend and looking forward to what’s next.”
Evangel is now 5-6 overall while Dakota State is 4-5. Dakota State has a win over Doane to its credit.
The Bulldogs will have a few days now to prepare for a significant early season GPAC clash with second-ranked Midland (10-1, 1-0 GPAC). The two rivals will face off at 7:30 p.m. CT from Wikert Arena in Fremont, Neb., on Wednesday. Midland won two of the three meetings in 2021, but Concordia got the upper hand in straight sets (25-23, 25-19, 25-7) in Fremont in the GPAC quarterfinals.