SEWARD, Neb. – Both the second and third sets raised the blood pressure on Saturday (Sept. 21) afternoon. Ultimately, the fourth-ranked Concordia University Volleyball team displayed its grit in finding a way to win down the stretch while putting away visiting Hastings, 25-13, 26-24, 26-24, inside Friedrich Arena. Junior Ashley Keck was all over the place in producing match highs for kills (17) and digs (21) in a third-straight win over an in-state GPAC opponent.
Head Coach Ben Boldt’s squad remains unbeaten within GPAC play at 4-0 (11-1 overall). The Bulldogs returned to action after having the middle of this week off from competition.
“It takes a lot to win in this league,” Boldt said. “We feel exhausted, but I think we also feel a sense of accomplishment. We’re continuing to work through – when things aren’t going great – how do we respond to that? I’m really proud to see them stay resilient, stay with each other, fight and go get the win.”
Hastings (8-4, 2-2 GPAC) likely came away thinking the match should have been extended into a fourth set. The Broncos owned a lead of 23-22 in the second set and held advantages of 22-18 and 24-22 in the third set. In breaking the 24-24 stalemate in the second set, Concordia got back-to-back kills from Keck and Ella Waters to put it away. Then in the third, the Bulldogs rattled off the match’s final four points like this: Waters kill, Ava Greene kill, Keck kill and Keck kill.
Concordia managed to grind through a combined 19 hitting errors over the second and third sets. It also showed it could regroup after relinquishing a 21-14 lead in the second set. For the match, the Bulldogs hit only .178, but they limited Hastings to a .139 hitting percentage with the help of Keck and Becca Gebhardt (15 digs) in the back row and from Gabi Nordaker (six blocks) in the middle.
Said Waters, “I think our team definitely brought out the grit, and I think we added more joy, which helped us get on a run. We weren’t down on ourselves when we had an error. That really helped us.”
Keck played like an All-American in hitting .350 from the outside. She was backed by 10 kills from Waters and nine from Addie Kirkegaard. Meanwhile, Savannah Shelburne contributed 24 assists, eight digs and two aces. Lily Psencik posted 17 assists and nine digs as the other part of the setter duo with Shelburne. Concordia had only one service error compared to four aces.
When things got sticky, the Bulldogs could lean upon Keck. Said Boldt, “Ashley had 17 kills today. I think I’ve said this before, but Ashley’s a beast. She is a really motivated worker and she wants what’s best for the team. I think that’s the motivation behind what she does. Her attitude is, ‘I need to do this because my team needs it.’ I just really appreciated her mentality and what she’s brought to the team.”
The Broncos got a team high nine kills from Majesta Valasek. In the back row, Miriam Miller collected 19 digs. Hastings had a slight edge in blocking, 9-7. Saturday’s result extended Concordia’s series winning streak with the rival Broncos to nine.
In the middle of the upcoming homecoming week, the Bulldogs will be headed to nearby Doane (4-12, 0-4 GPAC) for a clash inside the Haddix Center. First serve of the varsity match is slated for 7:30 p.m. CT in Crete, Neb. Concordia has won four straight and 11 of the past 12 in the series with the Tigers.