SEWARD, Neb. – The 10th-ranked Concordia University Volleyball team knew it was in for a battle while up against a Dakota Wesleyan squad with a strong serve and pass game. Ultimately, the Bulldogs won in straight sets, 25-19, 28-26, 25-15, though it was a gritty, defensive GPAC quarterfinal clash on Saturday (April 3) afternoon. Concordia managed to make fewer mistakes and got 14 kills from Camryn Opfer in the process of reaching the conference semifinals for the second year in a row.
Head Coach Ben Boldt’s squad is 3-0 this spring and now 15-3 overall heading into a top 10 showdown with Northwestern in the next round. For the moment, the Bulldogs are happy to avenge one of their three defeats from the fall.
“We were defending three attackers all day long and it’s really hard to get them out of system,” Boldt said. “What it came down to from our matchup in the regular season was people were making plays the whole time. Their offense was great. It comes down to who can make the stop. Our players were ready for that challenge. Marissa (Hoerman) put herself in a lot of good positions today. She dug a lot of good balls and was nails passing.”
No doubt the absence of GPAC Freshman of the Year Ady Dwight had an impact on how the Tigers played on Saturday. Dwight missed the match due to injury. Despite the significant personnel change, DWU appeared to be on the brink of taking the second set. Several different Bulldogs emerged to “be the woman” and Kara Stark rocketed one of her four kills for set point. That came after DWU led 24-23 and had later evened the score at 25-25 and 26-26.
There was much less drama in the third set that turned into a rough one for the Tigers. The front row of Concordia threw up a wall for six blocks in that set alone. Freshman middle Gabi Nordaker was especially impressive in that department in racking up nine total blocks (three solos). DWU made 16 attack errors and had a negative hitting percentage in the third set.
For the match, the Bulldogs outhit the Tigers, .192 to .049, following the lead of seniors like setter Tara Callahan. Said Callahan, “They’re a really good serve-pass team, probably one of the best we’ve seen between both seasons. We just really wanted to focus on winning that game. We’re excited to keep continuing on this revenge tour.”
In addition to Opfer’s 14 kills, three other Bulldogs notched at least seven kills: Kalee Wiltfong (eight), Arleigh Costello (seven) and Nordaker (seven). Callahan finished with 32 assists and seven digs. It was certainly a big day for the back rows of both squads (129 combined digs). Hoerman collected 22 digs and Erin Johnson added 13. On the other side of the net, DWU’s Madeline Else registered 23 digs. Concordia owned advantages of 43-35 in kills and 12-8 in blocks.
In Dwight’s absence, McKenzie Buisker and Mariah Gloe paced the Tigers with nine kills apiece. Head Coach Lindsay Wilber’s program made its first-ever GPAC tournament appearance and finished its season at 12-9 overall. DWU is receiving votes in the national poll.
Opfer has totaled 45 kills in the three matches this spring while heating it up from the outside. Said Boldt, “She’s come along way and is embracing this role of who she is. She doesn’t need to get a kill every time she swings the ball. We do need to have purpose when we do. She’s grown a lot as a volleyball player.”
Because No. 2 seed Northwestern (18-3) also took care of business, the third-seeded Bulldogs will be headed to Orange City, Iowa, for the GPAC semifinals on Wednesday (April 7). First serve is set for 7 p.m. CT. The GPAC championship match will be held on Saturday, April 10.