SEWARD, Neb. – It will be a series of rematches down the stretch run of the 2023 regular season for the top-ranked Concordia University Volleyball team. The Bulldogs will attempt to shake off this season’s first loss while preparing for Wednesday's trip to Doane and Saturday’s home tilt with No. 9 College of Saint Mary. After a 17-0 start to the season, Head Coach Ben Boldt’s squad finally endured a loss, falling in straight sets at No. 3 Northwestern this past Saturday. Currently tied atop the GPAC standings with Jamestown, Concordia (17-1, 10-1 GPAC) is chasing the program’s first conference regular season title since 2000.
This Week
Wednesday, Oct. 18 at Doane (6-16, 4-8 GPAC), 7:30 p.m.
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Saturday, Oct. 21 vs. No. 9 College of Saint Mary (19-5, 8-4 GPAC), 3 p.m.
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By the numbers
· Roughly two weeks remain in the regular season as the Bulldogs make a push for the 2023 GPAC regular season crown. Entering the week at 10-1 in league play, Concordia shares first place with Jamestown. It appears it will be a three-team race for the title as Northwestern (10-2) sits one loss behind both the Bulldogs and Jimmies. Northwestern and Jamestown are scheduled to meet up in North Dakota on Oct. 28 in another big-time matchup. As for Concordia, the remaining slate includes Doane (Oct. 18), College of Saint Mary (Oct. 21), Mount Marty (Oct. 25), Hastings (Oct. 28) and Midland (Oct. 31). The GPAC tournament will then get started with the quarterfinals on Nov. 4. During the tenure of the Boldts (2018-present), Concordia has placed as high as third (three times) in the GPAC during the regular season and has finished as the GPAC tournament runner up in back-to-back campaigns.
· The season profile for Concordia includes wins over four teams ranked in the latest NAIA coaches’ poll: No. 8 Park University (Mo.), No. 9 College of Saint Mary, No. 12 Jamestown and No. 17 Midland. The Bulldogs have also defeated two squads listed among others receiving votes nationally: Kansas Wesleyan University and Dakota Wesleyan. With Concordia and Columbia International University (S.C.) both slipping up this past Saturday, the lone unbeaten team remaining in NAIA volleyball is Indiana Wesleyan University at 23-0. The current top five in the NAIA poll (Oct. 11) are No. 1 Concordia, No. 2 Indiana Wesleyan, No. 3 Eastern Oregon, No. 3 Northwestern (tie at No. 3) and No. 5 Viterbo. On another note, the Bulldogs have defeated four programs that reached the 2022 NAIA national quarterfinals: Dakota Wesleyan, Jamestown, Midland and Park.
· For the second weekend in a row, Concordia had the eyes of the NAIA volleyball landscape upon it. The Bulldogs had an opportunity for set point (leading 24-23) in the first set at No. 3 Northwestern before surrendering a 3-0 run. The Red Raiders seized on that momentum and rode their blocking advantage (12-6) to victory in Orange City, Iowa. Northwestern got at least five blocks from three different players: Zavyr Metzger (six), Macay Van’t Hul (five) and Savonne Sterk (five). Their efforts helped limit Concordia to a season low hitting percentage of .044. The Bulldogs were led by 10 kills from Ashley Keck. Meanwhile, Camryn Opfer contributed nine kills and 20 digs, Gabi Nordaker posted eight kills and four blocks and Bree Burtwistle collected 30 assists, eight digs and an ace.
· There have been a number of milestones achieved this season by Concordia individuals as Nordaker hit 1,000 career kills, Becca Gebhardt reached 1,000 career digs and Burtwistle surpassed 2,500 career assists. More recently, Opfer became the fourth player in program history to record at least 1,500 career digs and Nordaker became the fourth player in program annals to pile up at least 400 blocks. The three names above Opfer on the digs list are: Becky Ernstmeyer (2,235), Carli Smith (1,761) and Jocelyn Garcia (1,594). The top three Bulldogs in blocks are: Katie Werner (787), Rachel Kirchner (760) and Renae Beikmann (446).
· The rough outing last week pushed Concordia back one spot to No. 2 on the national leaderboard in hitting percentage at .283. Undefeated Indiana Wesleyan moved into the No. 1 spot with a percentage of .288. However, the Bulldogs still pace the country in kills per set with an average of 14.78. At the conference level, Concordia ranks first in hitting percentage, first in kills per set, third in aces per set (1.72), fifth in blocks per set (2.09) and fifth in digs per set (17.72). Individually, the Bulldogs boast the GPAC leader in hitting percentage in Nordaker in hitting percentage (.371) and Burtwistle in assists per set (11.60). In addition, Carly Rodaway ranks fourth in the conference in hitting percentage (.307). There are five Bulldogs with more than 100 kills on the season: Keck (198), Nordaker (173), Opfer (166), Rodaway (131) and Maddie Paulsen (118).
· Since beginning his tenure as Bulldog head coach in 2018, Ben Boldt owns an overall record of 119-44 for a winning percentage of .730. Earlier this season, Boldt moved past Rachel Miller (107-125) for No. 3 on the program’s all-time wins list. The top two head coaches on that list are Berniece Jones (181-200) and Vicki Boye (167-136).
The opponents
Doane has gained traction with wins in two of its past three outings. The Tigers triumphed in four sets over Dordt on Oct. 7 and outlasted Briar Cliff in five sets on Oct. 14. Entering the week, Doane sits in eighth place as it looks to strengthen its chances of qualifying for the eight-team GPAC tournament that begins on Nov. 4. Concordia has won 10 of the past 11 series matchups over the Tigers. That stretch includes this season’s meeting in Seward on Sept. 13. The Bulldogs won going away, 25-11, 25-14, 25-14, while outhitting Doane, .388 to .104. Fourth-year Head Coach Jenna Jones’ squad has been led on the attack by junior right side Frankie Curren-Graff, who has accumulated 207 kills. As a team, the Tigers are hitting .129 while their opponents have hit .205.
College of Saint Mary is poised to return to the national tournament for the third year in row and for the fourth time in five years while led by Head Coach Rick Pruett. The Flames moved into the top 10 of the latest NAIA coaches’ poll at No. 9. The résumé for CSM includes wins over No. 3 Northwestern, No. 5 Viterbo and No. 24 SAGU (Texas) (using the current national rankings). The individual standouts include Kamryn Willman (No. 2 in the GPAC in hitting percentage) and Rachel Cushing (No. 5 in the GPAC in digs per set). The Flames are hitting .193 while holding their opponents to a .156 percentage. Concordia defeated CSM in this season’s first meeting, 25-27, 25-20, 25-16, 25-20, in Omaha. The Bulldogs have won each of the past five matchups with the Flames.
Next week
Concordia will travel to Mount Marty on Oct. 25 before hosting Hastings for senior day on Oct. 28.