MATCH POINT!@cunevolleyball rallied from a 12-8 deficit in the fifth set to win at seventh-ranked Columbia.#GRIT pic.twitter.com/QVlqaj5kcI
— Concordia Bulldogs (@cunebulldogs) August 24, 2024
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Trailing 13-9 in the fifth set and staring defeat in the face, the fourth-ranked Concordia University Volleyball team lived out its 2024 mantra: “grit.” The Bulldogs rallied all the way back on Friday (Aug. 23) and celebrated match point when All-American Gabi Nordaker’s attack landed in the back left corner. Concordia emerged from the home gym of one of the NAIA’s most storied volleyball programs with a heart-stopping victory, 22-25, 25-21, 25-15, 23-25, 17-15. Nordaker and company passed their first road test in edging No. 7 Columbia College.
Head Coach Ben Boldt’s squad moved to 3-0 while beginning its stay at the Hampton Inn Power Quad Classic hosted by Columbia. This was a prolonged heavyweight battle that played out over two-and-a-half hours.
“How about that one, huh?” Boldt said in his postgame radio remarks. “We want to own being a gritty team. Part of that is believing that the next thing that happens is going to be good, even if the last thing that happened wasn’t. We had a look in our eye even when we were down that we weren’t going to let it go. We blocked really well today and forced them to do things they didn’t want to do. They were able to execute down the stretch in set four, but we stuck with it and played defense.”
It’s fair to say things looked bleak for the visitors when Allana Capella hammered a kill that put the Cougars within two points of victory. The ensuing 4-0 Bulldog run went like this: Addie Kirkegaard kill, Ashley Keck/Ella Waters block, Molli Martin kill and Keck kill. Moments later, a 15-15 stalemate swung in Concordia’s favor as Waters and Nordaker called game with back-to-back kills. Somehow, some way, the Bulldogs even overcame four fifth-set service errors.
The play of Nordaker and Keck in crunch time allowed Concordia to persevere. Five of Nordaker’s match high 10 blocks came during a dominant third set for the Bulldogs. Then in the fifth, Keck and Nordaker combined for nine kills (five for Keck and four for Nordaker) in clutch performances. Keck also combined on two blocks during the final set. The latter of the two made it a 14-13 Concordia advantage.
Said Boldt, ““Gabi had a great night blocking. When she has that mentality, she can do a lot of great stuff. She had it tonight. When she gets in that mode, it’s fun to coach that.”
There was plenty of credit to go around. Keck finished with a match high 16 kills to go along with 20 digs and four blocks. Nordaker posted 11 kills in conjunction with her 10 blocks and Kirkegaard emerged with a career high 12 kills. In addition, Waters supplied 10 kills and three blocks, Martin added nine kills and Kya Scott chipped in seven kills. In the back row, the dependable Becca Gebhardt led the way with 26 digs. Setters Lily Psencik (30 assists) and Savannah Shelburne (25 assists) combined for 55 assists in leading to 65 team kills. Three aces apiece were tallied by Psencik, Shelburne and Ashlyn Wischmeier.
Top 10 road wins rarely come easy, but the Bulldogs won’t be patting themselves on the back for long. Said Boldt, “We can’t celebrate for long. We have to enjoy this while we’re here in the gym and then we have to get our minds right for the next opponent.”
Columbia (1-2) got a team high 13 kills from Alayna Rooks. The Cougars displayed balance of their own as six players notched at least seven kills. From a team perspective, Concordia owned advantages in hitting percentage, .216 to .173, blocks, 13-5, aces 11-5, and digs, 85-75. An NAIA national quarterfinalist in 2023, Columbia managed fewer errors on the attack (25-27) and in service (7-13).
The Bulldogs will return to action at the weekend classic for two matches in Columbia on Saturday. Concordia will take on defending national champion Indiana Wesleyan University at 10 a.m. before then going head-to-head with MidAmerica Nazarene University (Kan.) at 3 p.m. Both matches will be carried live by 104.9 Max Country with Frank Greene on the call.