SEWARD, Neb. – For the first time this season and for the eighth time in her career, fifth-year Bulldog Tara Callahan has been named the GPAC/Hauff Mid-America Sports Volleyball Setter of the Week, as announced on Tuesday (Sept. 21). Callahan is also the first Concordia University Volleyball player to garner a GPAC weekly award this season. Callahan led the Bulldogs to a pair of GPAC wins last week.
A native of Brady, Neb., Callahan averaged 12.14 assists per set (85 total assists) in victories over Doane and Hastings. Callahan’s work at setter paved the way for Concordia to hit .201 versus Doane and .363 at Hastings. Callahan’s week also included 20 digs, four kills and four blocks. Within conference play, Callahan is averaging 11.1 assists per set. Her 39 assists at Hastings represented a season high for a straight-sets match.
Recently, Callahan moved past 4,000 career assists, making her the third player in program history to reach that figure. With 4,126 career assists, Callahan ranks behind only Stacy Stuckenschmidt (4,949) and Alayna Kavanaugh (4,485) on the program’s all-time list. Kavanaugh is the only Bulldog to rank above Callahan since rally scoring debuted in college volleyball in 2001. Callahan has earned First Team All-GPAC and NAIA Honorable Mention All-America honors in each of the past two seasons.
Callahan and the 19th-ranked Bulldogs (8-5, 3-2 GPAC) will return to action on Wednesday when they take on Mount Marty (6-8, 0-5 GPAC) in Yankton, S.D., at 7:30 p.m. CT.