Bulldogs serve up snappy straight-sets win over Mount Marty

SEWARD, Neb. – The Bulldogs came out sizzling in the first set on the way to a dominant 25-9, 29-27, 25-9 win over Mount Marty (11-16, 0-10 GPAC) inside Walz Arena on Saturday afternoon. Concordia experienced only a minor hiccup in the second set but came out on top to set the stage for a second three-set win in a row. The Bulldogs improved to 15-9 overall and 4-7 in GPAC play.

“We played really well in game one and we played pretty well in game three as well,” Concordia head coach Scott Mattera said. “But our serving was just off the charts. (Mariah) Schamp and (Michala) Maurer just took them out of everything they wanted to do. It was fantastic.”

Concordia set the tone for its fourth victory in the past six matches with a blistering first set that saw it outhit the Lancers, .478 to -.045. Everyone fired on all cylinders as the quartet of sophomores Kelsey Dinkel and Claire White and freshmen Paige Getz and Taylor Workman combined for 14 kills on only 21 swings in the first game.

Workman, who hails from Lincoln, Neb., enjoyed one of the best performances of her young career with nine kills on 18 attempts and four total blocks (two solos).

“We worked a lot on connections in practice so I think that really helped a lot,” Workman said. “The connection was there (on Saturday).”

Workman and junior middle Mariah Schamp were instrumental in Concordia’s come-from-behind effort in the second set. Both were part of three denials at the net as the Bulldogs rallied back down 24-22 with Mount Marty serving for set point. Workman posted both of her solo blocks at the end of the second set and Schamp came through with two blocks near the end of the set, including one that knotted the score at 24-24.

“We were OK with that because of how maturely we handled it,” Mattera said of the close call in the second set. “We probably shouldn’t have let them hang around that long. We were down two and they probably had four or five game points there. Every time they had a game point, we made a play.”

The third set looked much like the first as the Bulldogs won by an identical 25-9 score. Concordia stifled the Lancers, who recorded negative attack percentages in the first and third games and hit only .042 for the match.

In service, junior specialist Michala Maurer gave Mount Marty fits all day. She hammered three aces and combined with the likes of White and Schamp on service to make it difficult for the Lancers to get into an offensive rhythm. Maurer, a Columbus, Neb., native, now has 28 aces on the season.

White led Concordia with 10 kills. Schamp added eight and Getz stayed hot with seven kills on 18 swings. Both freshman Alayna Kavanaugh and Carli Smith had eight digs.

The Lancers got a team high seven kills from Bailey Kuchta.

The Bulldogs have swept the regular-season series with Mount Marty. Concordia also defeated the Lancers, 25-17, 25-20, 25-22 in Yankton, S.D., on Sept. 21.

The Bulldogs face a challenging week on the road ahead. Concordia will play three GPAC matches away from Seward next week, beginning with Nebraska Wesleyan (17-6, 7-4 GPAC) on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. The Prairie Wolves knocked off the Bulldogs in four sets inside Walz Arena on Oct. 1.