SEWARD, Neb. – After two on the road last week, the Concordia University volleyball team will get cozy at home with three-straight matches inside Walz Arena. The Bulldogs hope to build upon their four-set victory this past weekend at eighth-ranked Midland. In this week’s action, Concordia will host Doane on Wednesday and then No. 25 Morningside on Friday. The Friday night contest will serve as the Bulldogs’ Pink Match to promote breast cancer awareness.
This Week
Wednesday, Oct. 9 vs. Doane (12-8, 3-4 GPAC), 7:30 p.m.
--Live Webcast/Stats | 104.9 Max Country
Friday, Oct. 11 vs. (25) Morningside (12-6, 4-4 GPAC), 7:30 p.m.
--Live Webcast/Stats
Pink Out t-shirts are available for purchase in the student life office this week Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The cost is $5 (a limited number of shirts are available). Head coach Ben Boldt’s squad would love to see arena full of pink-clad fans inside a building where Concordia is 6-1 this season. The Bulldogs are also proving to be plenty competent in hostile territory. Last week the Bulldogs bounced back from a rough performance at Hastings to claim a signature road win over top 10 Midland. Concordia had lost nine-straight meetings with the Warriors, a 2018 national semifinalist.
The Bulldogs (16-3, 5-3 GPAC) are working on a résumé that needed the boost from the victory like it got last week. Despite one of the best 19-match records in program history (behind only the 18-1 start by the 2005 squad, in terms of the GPAC era), Concordia had not received votes in the national poll until breaking into the receiving votes category last week. It is all the way up to No. 9 nationally in the Massey Ratings with the help of a strong nonconference win over Corban University (ranked fifth by Massey). If the Bulldogs can find consistency at home over the next two weeks, they should find themselves cracking the top 25 of the national poll.
On the national leaderboard, Concordia ranks fifth in hitting percentage (.247) and seventh in kills per set (13.68). On the NAIA individual board, junior Tara Callahan ranks 12th in assists per set (10.49) and senior Emmie Noyd ranks 12th in hitting percentage (.353), 19th in blocks per set (1.17) and 36th in kills per set (3.61). Only two GPAC squads have better hitting percentages than the Bulldogs: Northwestern (.314) and Dakota Wesleyan (.258). Defensively, five Concordia players have more than 100 digs: Marissa Hoerman (229), Camryn Opfer (169), Kaylie Dengel (165), Erin Johnson (144) and Callahan (128).
In the matchup that took place on Sept. 25 in Crete, the Bulldogs handled Doane in straight sets. After falling behind 17-10 in the opening set, Concordia dominated the rest of the way. The Tigers have been up and down. They have wins over Midland and Morningside, but have gone just 3-4 over their past seven matches. The go-to-player for Doane has been outside hitter Allison Kuenle, who has piled up 1,168 kills in her career. The Tigers were ranked ninth in the most recent GPAC poll.
The Mustangs defeated the Bulldogs in four sets in Sioux City, Iowa, on Sept. 17. Morningside is 3-2 since then with victories over Hastings, Midland and Doane. Concordia will have to do a better job limiting Emma Gerber (28th nationally in hitting percentage) this time around. As a team, the Mustangs sport national rankings of 12th in kills per set (13.58), 16th in hitting percentage (.229) and 31st in blocks per set (2.17). Morningside was ranked fifth in last week’s GPAC poll.
Following Friday’s match, the Bulldogs will be idle until hosting No. 22 Dordt on Saturday, Oct. 19.