YANKTON, S.D. – Making a bid to rise to the No. 6 seed in the GPAC tournament that begins next week, the Concordia University volleyball team opened up a two-day road trip with a 25-16, 25-18, 25-15 victory at Mount Marty. The Bulldogs hit .378 while not being seriously threatened in any of the three sets.
Fifth-year head coach Scott Mattera’s squad kept the Lancers winless in league play in the process of winning for the fourth time in the past five outings. Currently in seventh place in the GPAC standings, Concordia stands at 15-17 overall and 6-9 in the GPAC.
“We really played well tonight against a team that passed well and ran some interesting stuff,” Mattera said. “Alayna's (Kavanaugh) location on her sets was great and that really allowed our hitters to see the court well. Paige (Getz) continued her great run by really bringing the heat and hitting smart. Our defense was very disciplined as well which led to solid transition offense.”
It was another big night for Bulldog seniors as the trio of Paige Getz, Tiegen Skains and Taylor Workman combined for 27 kills and reigning NAIA national setter of the week Alayna Kavanaugh teed up 38 of the team’s 43 kills. Getz, who hit .423 for the night, ran her career kill total to 1,314 – just one off current assistant coach Rachel (Kirchner) Miller for third on the program’s all-time kills list.
Concordia hit .344, .333 and then a lava hot .480, respectively, over the three sets. Mount Marty (7-23, 0-16 GPAC) had little answer on the other side of the net. The Lancers got nine kills from Sierra Kloth, but hit only .070 for the match. The low hitting percentage came in part because of the play of Jocelyn Garcia, who totaled 19 digs in the back row.
The Bulldogs will conclude the regular season in Sioux City, Iowa, on Saturday when they visit Morningside (18-12, 7-8 GPAC) for a 3 p.m. CT first serve. Concordia used a miraculous comeback to sink the Mustangs in five sets in the first meeting this season between the two sides. The winner on Saturday will claim the No. 6 seed in the GPAC tournament. The loser will fall back to the No. 7 slot.