OMAHA, Neb. – After tasting defeat for the first time in 2024, fourth-ranked Concordia got back to Bulldog Volleyball on Saturday (Aug. 31) and emerged from Omaha, Neb., with a pair of wins. Two-time All-American Gabi Nordaker hit a smoldering .567 for the day as the Bulldogs celebrated a win over No. 5 Viterbo University (Wis.), 22-25, 25-23, 25-19, 25-18, and a victory over Oklahoma Panhandle State University (Okla.). The matches were played as part of the College of Saint Mary Labor Day Classic.
Concordia moves to 7-1 at the closure of three weekends of rugged nonconference action. The Bulldogs have taken down five opponents ranked inside the NAIA top 10.
“I was super proud of our team,” said Boldt following the win over Viterbo. “We stuck with it mentally. After yesterday’s game, I thought we kind of got outside of ourselves. We just weren’t being ourselves. Today we didn’t win the first set. I thought we stuck together and stayed under control. I think our communication was good. It was a lot cleaner today. If we wouldn’t have gone through what we did yesterday, I don’t think we would have gotten to where we are today. I think we’re better today.”
After dropping the first set to Viterbo, Concordia refused to suffer the same fate it endured in Friday’s loss to No. 14 Bellevue University. The Bulldogs even shook off a deficit of 17-13 in the second set before calling timeout and regrouping. Ella Waters promptly swatted a kill and later ended the set with another kill. A flicker of momentum was seemingly all it took for Concordia to get back on track. The Bulldogs proceeded to put the V-Hawks away by collecting a combined 28 kills on 67 swings over the third and fourth sets.
In the day’s first victory, Ashley Keck led the way with 15 kills, 10 digs and three blocks. Meanwhile, Nordaker posted 13 kills and six blocks while hitting .478 from the middle and Ella Watters sizzled with 12 kills (.429) from the pins. Becca Gebhardt added a team best 11 digs and Savannah Shelburne and Lily Psencik combined for 56 assists (on 58 kills as a team). Concordia hit .305 for the match.
In the weekend capper, the Bulldogs made quick work of Oklahoma Panhandle State (2-6). Concordia set the tone by hitting .552 with 18 kills in the opening set. The Bulldogs unleashed their depth against the overmatched foe as eight players notched at least four kills, led by nine from outside hitter Kya Scott. It was a fine performance for Lanie Brott, who tallied seven kills on 11 swings. Sydney Jelinek also saw extended action and came through with four kills. In the back row, Gebhardt and Ashlyn Wischmeier put up 13 digs apiece.
Concordia hit .339 in the final match of the weekend and showed it could respond after a disappointing result. The Boldts made some slight adjustments in the early match on Saturday – and they appeared to pay off.
Said Boldt, “We made a little adjustment in our lineup with our setters and our right sides. We flipped them in our lineup and it created some interesting offensive patterns. I liked the flow of this match a little bit better. It felt clean and it looked clean.”
It will be conference play now for the remainder of the 2024 regular season. The Bulldogs will open GPAC action on Wednesday night with a trip to Mount Marty (7-1). First serve of the varsity match is slated for 7:30 p.m. CT in Yankton, S.D. It will be Concordia’s lone outing of next week.