OMAHA, Neb. – One point away from victory in the fourth set on Wednesday (Sept. 1), the sixth-ranked Concordia University Volleyball team failed to finish off No. 23 College of Saint Mary. The Flames rattled off the final four points of the fourth set and then blitzed the Bulldogs in the fifth. Ultimately, Makenna Freeman and the Flames celebrated a come-from-behind victory, 20-25, 22-25, 25-18, 26-24, 15-10, inside the Lied Fitness Center in Omaha.
Head Coach Ben Boldt’s squad also fell in a five-setter in its most recent outing, this past Saturday against No. 12 Bellevue. Per usual, nothing in the GPAC will come easy.
“It was pretty hotly contested throughout the entire match,” Boldt said. “We came out sharp in the beginning. They made some adjustments. In that second set we made a really good push at the end that helped us take that set. It was back-and-forth the entire match. We have to be able to stay sharp for longer periods of time. That’s what we’re learning about ourselves as a program – really embodying the idea of ‘being the woman’ when you need to.”
College of Saint Mary (8-1, 1-1 GPAC) entered the evening with just a single loss (at the hands of No. 3 Midland). Head Coach Rick Pruett’s squad showed some toughness to brush off setbacks in the first two sets when it surrendered a combined 34 kills to the Bulldogs (2-2, 1-1 GPAC). Concordia had its chances to put it on ice in the fourth set, leading 24-22. Freeman and Rosa Reed-Bouley struck for a kill apiece with two Bulldog attack errors sandwiched in-between. Suddenly, it was anyone’s game.
In the fifth set, CSM put away nine kills while Concordia committed six attack errors. The Flames built a 13-4 lead in the set before Gabi Nordaker’s kill ended a 4-0 run. Kamryn Williams later delivered the match-point kill for the home team. The Flames owned an advantage in hitting percentage, .249 to .213, for the night.
Four Bulldogs reached double figures in kills: Camryn Opfer (16), Arleigh Costello (14), Erica Heinzerling (13) and Nordaker (12). In tandem with Nordaker in the middle, Morgan Nibbe added nine kills and five blocks. Five Concordia players posted 10-plus digs: Opfer (15), Tara Callahan (14), Cassidy Knust (13), Kennedy VanScoy (11) and Rebecca Gebhardt (10). Knust had the honor of donning the libero jersey. At setter, Callahan piled up 57 assists and chipped in four kills.
The Bulldogs possess plenty of weapons on the attack. For Boldt, the focus will continue to be on tightening up serving and passing.
“When it comes to serving and defense, we’re going to continue to talk about that stuff,” Boldt said. “When we’re back there serving – we keep our courage, we keep our composure and we stay focused – good things are going to happen. I think we did a good job towards the end of the match. We had a little bit of a lull in the middle of the match.”
Freeman paced both sides with 18 kills. Flames libero Rachel Cushing notched 24 digs. CSM picked up its first win this season over a ranked opponent (has also beaten one team that is receiving votes).
A week inside the NAIA top 25 continues this weekend at the Bellevue Labor Day Classic. In Friday’s action, the Bulldogs will take on No. 19 Oklahoma City University and No. 17 Montana Tech (match times at 3 and 7 p.m. CT). Concordia will also battle No. 10 University of Providence (Mont.) at 1 p.m. on Saturday as part of the event.