SEWARD, Neb. – The matchups for the 2024 NAIA National Championship Opening Round are set. As announced on Monday (Nov. 18), the Concordia University, Nebraska Volleyball team will welcome Our Lady of the Lake University (Texas) to Friedrich Arena for opening round play on Saturday afternoon. The Bulldogs will make their seventh all-time national tournament appearance while the Saints of San Antonio will step onto the national stage for the fifth time in their program’s history.
NAIA National Championship Opening Round
Concordia (23-3) vs. Our Lady of the Lake (23-8)
--Saturday, Nov. 23 | 1 p.m. CT | Friedrich Arena (Seward, Neb.)
--104.9 Max Country | Live Webcast | Live Stats
--Admission: $10 for adults/senior citizens, $5 for college/high school students and youth; only those with NAIA passes are admitted free of charge.
--Buy advance tickets via https://www.cune.edu/athletics/tickets.
Head Coach Ben Boldt and lead assistant Angie Boldt have guided the program to a sixth-straight national tournament appearance. A win on Saturday would push Concordia to the national tournament final site for the sixth year in a row. The bar has been set high by the 2020 and 2021 squads that both reached the NAIA national quarterfinals. The Bulldogs were ranked No. 2 in the most recent NAIA coaches’ poll and qualified for the 2024 national tournament via an automatic bid (GPAC tournament runner up). Concordia placed second in the GPAC in the regular season (one game behind Northwestern) and stands at 24-3 overall. Over the past six years, the Bulldogs have won a combined 12 times at the national tournament. This will be the fourth time in program history that Concordia has hosted an opening round match.
The matchup with OLLU comes with added intrigue in that the Saints are led by former Bulldog Head Coach Scott Mattera. It was Mattera who took Concordia to its first-ever national tournament back in 2015. Mattera served as the Bulldogs’ head coach for six seasons (2012-17) and won 97 matches over that stretch. OLLU qualified for the 2024 national tournament by winning the Red River Athletic Conference tournament title. The Saints also qualified for nationals in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2020 and have won once on the national stage (2017). The ’24 OLLU team placed five players on the RRAC all-conference first or second teams. A senior libero, Tina Trevino was named the league’s Defensive Player of the Year for the fourth time. She was joined on the first team by outside hitters Mia Francis and Camila Ramirez and setter Lauren Reynard.
The Matchup
--National ranking in parentheses
Concordia
Head Coach: Ben Boldt, 7th season
Record: 24-3, 15-1 GPAC (2nd)
SOS: 7th (Massey Ratings)
Hitting %: .234 (T-15th)
Kills/set: 14.11 (7th)
Blocks/set: 2.34 (T-13th)
Digs/set: 18.39 (19th)
Aces/set: 1.22 (184th)
Kills: Ashley Keck – 323 (3.36/set)
Blocks: Gabi Nordaker – 130 (1.35/set)
Assists: Savannah Shelburne – 596 (6.02/set)
Digs: Rebecca Gebhardt – 416 (4.29/set)
Aces: Savannah Shelburne – 31 (0.31/set)
Our Lady of the Lake
Head Coach: Scott Mattera, 6th season
Record: 23-8
SOS: 113th (Massey Ratings)
Hitting %: .203 (T-45th)
Kills/set: 13.22 (T-24th)
Blocks/set: 1.72 (T-106th)
Digs/set: 17.41 (39th)
Aces/set: 1.71 (T-89th)
Kills: Camila Ramirez – 345 (3.17/set)
Blocks: Makaelyn Perez – 62 (0.58/set)
Assists: Lauren Reynard – 795 (7.16/set)
Digs: Tina Trevino – 621 (5.70/set)
Aces: Lauren Reynard – 33 (0.30/set)
National Tournament Facts/Game Notes
· Concordia will be making the seventh national tournament appearance in program history. The 2015 squad became the first Bulldog volleyball edition to qualify for nationals. The ’15 squad was defeated in the opening round while hosting Olivet Nazarene University (Ill.). Then in 2019, Concordia broke through with an advancement to the national round of 16 and claimed the program’s first two national tournament victories – over Montana Tech and the University of Saint Mary (Kan.). The string of national tournament appearances has continued since 2019 under the direction of the Boldts.
· The 2020 team took things a step further by reaching the NAIA national quarterfinals. The path to the quarterfinals included wins over Xavier University of Louisiana (opening round), Lindsey Wilson College (Ky.) and No. 7 Marian University (Ind.). The run ended with a loss to Dordt. The 2021 squad also advanced to the NAIA national quarterfinals, which continues to be the farthest point the program has ever reached. The ’21 team won matches at the final site over No. 25 Oregon Tech and No. 2 Viterbo University (Wis.).
· In both 2022 and 2023, Concordia fell short of reaching bracket play in Sioux City. The GPAC championship Bulldogs of last season routed Judson University (Ill.) in the opening round, then defeated No. 21 Montana Western in straight sets. That result set up a clash with rival and 13th-ranked Midland, the third meeting of the campaign between the two sides. The Warriors ended Concordia’s season by taking it in three sets. All-American Camryn Opfer topped the Bulldogs with a combined 32 kills over last season’s three national tournament matches.
· Boldt’s crew has plenty of experience on the national stage. The Bulldogs return 11 players that were part of the 2023 national tournament roster. This will be the fifth national tournament for fifth-year Bulldog Gabi Nordaker and the fourth national tournament for teammates Becca Gebhardt, Cassidy Knust and Ashlyn Wischmeier. Others with on-court national tournament experience are Ava Greene, Ashley Keck and Addie Kirkegaard.
· Concordia owns wins over five teams that qualified for the 2024 national tournament: Columbia College (Mo.), Indiana Wesleyan University, Midland (three times), Morningside and Viterbo University (Wis.). Four GPAC teams have qualified for the national tournament and three of them will be hosting in the opening round. The national tournament field is made up of 34 automatic qualifiers and 14 at-large selections.
· While making her fifth appearance on the national stage, Nordaker ranks behind only former teammate Camryn Opfer for most career matches played at the national tournament in program history. Opfer appeared in 18 of the program’s 19 all-time national tournament matches. From 2019 through 2023, Opfer produced 227 kills and 272 digs over her 18 career national tournament matches (all school records). Opfer finished her Bulldog career with program all-time rankings of third in kills (1,561) and third in digs (1,671). As for Nordaker, in 14 career national tournament matches, she has totaled 152 kills and 76 blocks. The block total is the most for any Concordia player in history at nationals. Nordaker will enter the national tournament with school career rankings of third in blocks (588) and fourth in kills (1,393). Elsewhere on the program’s all-time lists, Gebhardt ranks fourth in digs (1,630) and Keck ranks 13th in kills (923).
· Many firsts have been accomplished under the Boldts’ leadership, including the program’s first time reaching the NAIA national quarterfinals and the first No. 1 national ranking (achieved in 2023). The Boldts took over prior to the start of the 2018 season and have proceeded to lead the Bulldogs to season-by-season win totals of 15, 25, 18, 19, 25, 25 and 24, respectively. From a national perspective, Concordia has never been in a more prominent position. It’s a continuation of successful seasons that have seen the Bulldogs finish with national rankings of 14th in 2019, eighth in 2020, sixth in 2021, fourth in 2022 and fourth in 2023. Concordia has been ranked No. 2 in two separate NAIA coaches’ polls in 2024. Ben Boldt enters the 2024 national tournament with a record of 151-50 (.751) at the helm of the program.
Program all-time national tournament matches
Six previous appearances | 12-7 national tournament record | two-time national quarterfinalists
2015
Lost vs. Olivet Nazarene (Ill.), 3-0 (Opening Round)
2019
Won vs. No. 19 Montana Tech, 3-1 (Pool Play)
Won vs. Saint Mary (Kan.), 3-0 (Pool Play)
Lost vs. No. 3 Indiana Wesleyan, 3-2 (Pool Play)
Lost vs. No. 4 Missouri Baptist, 3-0 (Round of 16)
2020
Won at Xavier (La.), 3-1 (Opening Round)
Won vs. Lindsey Wilson (Ky.), 3-2 (Pool Play)
Won vs. No. 7 Marian (Ind.), 3-1 (Pool Play)
Lost vs. No. 16 Dordt, 3-0 (Quarterfinals)
2021
Won vs. Ave Maria (Fla.), 3-0 (Opening Round)
Won vs. No. 25 Oregon Tech, 3-1 (Pool Play)
Won vs. No. 2 Viterbo (Wis.), 3-2 (Pool Play)
Lost vs. No. 7 Marian (Ind.), 3-2 (Quarterfinals)
2022
Won vs. Florida College, 3-0 (Opening Round)
Won vs. Hastings, 3-1 (Pool Play)
Lost vs. No. 13 Park (Mo.), 3-1 (Pool Play)
2023
Won vs. Judson (Ill.), 3-0 (Opening Round)
Won vs. No. 21 Montana Western, 3-0 (Pool Play)
Lost vs. No. 13 Midland, 3-0 (Pool Play)
The final site
The 24 opening round winners will advance to action at the final site, the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa. Final site volleyball starts with three days of pool play from December 4-6. The top team of each pool will advance to the elimination bracket, starting with the quarterfinals, on Saturday, December 7. The semifinals will be played on Monday, December 9, and the national champion will be crowned on Tuesday, December 10, with the first serve set for 7 p.m. CST on ESPN3. For more details on the national championship, visit the NAIA volleyball home page HERE. Pool play assignments will be announced on Sunday after all opening round contests have concluded.