SEWARD, Neb. – The Concordia University Volleyball team knew it had to deliver its A+ game while up against undefeated and top-ranked Jamestown on Friday (Oct. 22) evening. Ultimately, the blocking of the Jimmies gave the Bulldogs fits in what amounted to a win for the visitors, 25-19, 25-21, 25-21, inside Friedrich Arena. Jamestown piled up 11 blocks and outhit Concordia, .211 to .087.
Head Coach Ben Boldt’s squad is in a fight for a spot in the GPAC tournament and stands at 11-10 overall (6-7 GPAC). One of the nine GPAC squads currently ranked or receiving votes nationally will end up as the odd team out.
Boldt saw a lot of fight in his team despite the result. Said Boldt, “I thought our passing was good. We were able to do what we wanted to in terms of what our offense was. Now it was tough to get past their block. They’re a very fundamentally sound blocking team. I think the biggest thing for me, towards the end of the match we were continuing to compete as far as the way we were swinging. It was the right mentality of us compete and be aggressive at the same time.”
The Jimmies (25-0, 13-0 GPAC) have done this same thing to most of their opponents. Twenty-two of their wins have now come in straight sets. Their play in the front row was superb on Friday with Kalli Hegerle, Corina Huff, Jayla Ritter and Taylor Sabinash each contributing in a big way on the block. In the back row, Ellie Holen mounted 22 digs. That made life difficult for the Bulldog attack, which was limited to .125 hitting or lower in each of the three sets.
Concordia pushed Jamestown in every set. It was within 21-19 in the first, 21-20 in the second and was even at 20-20 in the third. The Jimmies are cool as cucumbers. Head Coach Jon Hegerle never called a timeout all night. Jamestown seems to always have the belief that it will come out on top. Kalli Hegerle finished with a match high 12 kills as one of four Jamestown players with at least six kills.
Bulldog star Camryn Opfer got going with five kills in the opening set. She wound up with 11 kills and nine digs. Opfer produced while being set by both Tara Callahan (19 assists, 11 digs, three aces) and Bree Burtwistle (11 assists, seven digs). Boldt threw in a wrinkle in an effort to spread out the Jamestown block from pin-to-pin. Gabi Nordaker added seven kills in the middle and Cassidy Knust paced the team with 12 digs.
Three matches are all that remain on the regular season schedule. Though the record isn’t where Concordia would like it to be, the team has consistently given max effort. Nothing ever comes easy in the GPAC.
Said Boldt, “We’re getting there as a mentality and that’s what we talk about a lot. That was encouraging to see that from our team. It was really good volleyball. Our serving wasn’t great – we had some untimely missed serves. That’s just an execution type of thing that we need to work on. That was a big piece that we’re going to have to be great at tomorrow.”
The Bulldogs will quickly turn around and host No. 15 Dakota Wesleyan (21-6, 9-4 GPAC) at 4 p.m. CT on Saturday. In action on Friday night at No. 6 Midland, the Tigers were defeated in straight sets. Saturday’s contest will be a rematch of last season’s GPAC quarterfinal won in straight sets by Concordia. DWU appears on track to make a national tournament appearance for the first time since 1990.