SEWARD, Neb. – A new-look Concordia University, Nebraska Volleyball team is still working on putting all the pieces together at the same time, but the parts that did work on Friday (Aug. 28) made life difficult on visiting MidAmerica Nazarene University (Kan.). The Bulldogs won decisively in the service and blocking departments and handled the Pioneers, 25-20, 25-17, 25-16, as part of the Power Quad inside Friedrich Arena. Leading the way, Bella Hedke and Danica Martin contributed to five blocks apiece and the freshman Kyla Griess delivered four aces.
Head Coach Ben Boldt’s squad improved to 5-1 with two matches remaining on the weekend. Concordia already owns four wins over 2025 national qualifying teams.
“We weren’t the cleanest attacking-wise, but I loved the vibe of that game because of our serving and our blocking,” Boldt said. “When we’re good in that, it just feels good on our side of the court. I like that we were aggressive attacking-wise. I thought we were a little too error prone, but our blocking and serving were great.”
In home match No. 2 of the season, the Bulldogs tightened up their service, while still spraying grenades across the net. Concordia finished Friday night’s clash with 11 aces compared to five errors. In addition to Griess’ four aces, Ella Brueggemann and Clara Evert added two apiece. A junior from Gothenburg, Neb., Evert unleashed missiles that created havoc for the Pioneers, who struggled to stay in system.
Strong serving helped set up Concordia’s block. The Bulldogs finished with a 12-8 advantage in that category thanks to six different players with at least one block assist. A transfer from Wayne State College, Hedke displayed the type of talent in the middle that made her a JUCO All-American. Hedke added six kills on 10 swings. She frequently teamed up with Martin on the right side to stifle the MNU attack.
“I feel like our team has worked really hard this past week,” Hedke said. “Just getting some things exposed in the tournament has made us such a strong team. Some of the things we've really worked on are the setter-hitter connection and our pressure on the serve. I feel like we executed that tonight.”
The hitting percentages were not pretty on either side. The Bulldogs hit .064 while the Pioneers attacked in the red (-.031). MNU registered more attack errors (24) than kills (21). The kills leader for Concordia was freshman Samantha Kimbell with seven. Makenna Starkey (six) and Shandy Fa’ali’i (five) trailed close behind in that category. At setter Myla Emery (14 assists) and Ella Brueggemann (13 assists) shared the role. Fa’ali’i and Emma Brueggemann notched 12 digs apiece.
The Bulldogs will attempt to elevate their offensive efficiency on Saturday. Said Boldt, “We want to continue working on killing the ball behind the setter on the slide attack. We tried that a couple of times. We still need to get better at it. I want to be able to spread out our attack and make them have to defend the entire net. That’s something we need to keep working on. I thought our serve and pass was good today.”
MNU (3-1) fell for the first time this season. The Pioneers out of the Heart of America Athletic Conference got a team-high six kills from middle blocker Mia Olson and right side Kennedy Smalley. Olson added four blocks.
The Power Quad will resume early on Saturday with the first match getting underway at 9 a.m. CT. For the Bulldogs, they are preparing to take on Columbia College (Mo.) at 11:30 a.m. and No. 3 Indiana Wesleyan University at 4:30 p.m. In Friday’s first match, Indiana Wesleyan defeated Columbia, 26-28, 25-15, 25-22, 25-16.
Power Quad | Saturday, Aug. 29
• 9:00 a.m. – Indiana Wesleyan University vs. MidAmerica Nazarene University
• 11:30 a.m. – Concordia University vs. Columbia College
• 2:00 p.m. – Columbia College vs. MidAmerica Nazarene University
• 4:30 p.m. – Concordia University vs. Indiana Wesleyan University