Bulldogs dominate final three sets in pink-out victory

By Jacob Knabel on Oct. 23, 2024 in Volleyball

SEWARD, Neb. – After letting a five-point lead slip away in the opening set, the third-ranked Concordia University, Nebraska Volleyball team tightened up the screws and backed up its national ranking. The Bulldogs dominated the final three sets behind a strong blocking performance and defeated Mount Marty, 23-25, 25-17, 25-12, 25-19, inside Friedrich Arena on Wednesday (Oct. 23). Concordia stayed perfect (7-0) in the month of October on an evening it hosted its pink-out match to support breast cancer awareness.

Head Coach Ben Boldt’s squad bumped its mark to 19-2 overall (12-1 GPAC) with three matches remaining in the regular season.

“We started off pretty well and then I thought we got a little complacent in the first set,” Boldt said. “We had a gut check, mental check, and got ourselves where we needed to be. Sometimes you win ugly. We got ourselves to a spot where we were competing, and that’s where we needed to be. We started doing the little things right like making sure we’re disciplined in our base defense and not reaching. We were much better with that after the first set.”

Sweeps are difficult to come by in GPAC play and Mount Marty (12-12, 4-9 GPAC) drove that point home by taking the first set, which concluded a combined block by Caitlin Guenther and Adisyn Indahl. The Lancers shook off deficits of 9-4 and 15-11 in the opening set while hitting .292 with 19 kills. That sort of leaky defensive play was corrected as the Bulldogs once again responded to the challenge.

Mount Marty failed to hit better than .119 in any of the final three sets while dealing with Gabi Nordaker (eight block assists) in the middle and Becca Gebhardt (25 digs) in the back row. On the attack, three Concordia hitters notched double figures in kills: Nordaker (12), Ashley Keck (11) and Kya Scott (11). The Kearney, Neb., native Keck ended in the match on an authoritative kill that pushed her career total to 851 and moved her to 15th on the program’s all-time kills list.

There were also strong contributions made by Ella Waters (seven kills and three blocks), Ava Greene (seven kills, .500 hitting percentage) and Cassidy Knust (14) digs. Keck also added 18 digs while the setters Lily Psencik (22 assists and nine digs) and Savannah Shelburne (27 assists and nine digs) combined for 49 assists on the team’s 56 kills. Lanie Brott also saw action and collected two kills in the fourth set.

The meaning of the pink match is not lost on someone like Concordia senior defensive specialist Cassidy Knust. Said the Aurora, Neb., native, “It hits home for a lot of people. For myself, I have breast cancer in my family. It means a lot in that sense to honor everybody who has survived or has passed away. It’s something special, so we’re glad to do that tonight.”

The Bulldogs have twice beaten Mount Marty in four sets this season. The Lancers were paced on Wednesday by the 14 kills and 19 digs from standout Julia Weber. Mount Marty wound up hitting .077 after the hot first set.

Said Boldt, “I thought that once we started passing and taking care of that first contact, our offense was good and spread out … It was fun to see Lanie Brott get in there at the end of the game. She had two big kills there – she put it away. Ava has been really efficient. She’s doing a great job.

The Bulldogs will be back on the road on Saturday when they have a date with Hastings (13-8, 7-5 GPAC). First serve of the varsity match is set for 4:30 p.m. CT from Lynn Farrell Arena. Concordia has won nine consecutive meetings over the Broncos. In Wednesday’s action, Hastings defeated Doane in straight sets.