2023 AVCA NAIA All-Region Teams
SEWARD, Neb. – A group of four Bulldogs from the high achieving 2023 Concordia University Volleyball team were recognized on Thursday (Nov. 30) by the American Volleyball Coaches Association. The organization tabbed three Bulldogs to its NAIA West Central Region First Team: Bree Burtwistle, Gabi Nordaker and Camryn Opfer. In addition, Ashley Keck was named an honorable mention all-region choice by the AVCA. Burtwistle, Nordaker and Opfer are each repeat all-region award winners.
The all-region teams were chosen by the NAIA Selection Committee. Each of the 10 regions named 14 student-athletes to the All-Region team, and eight players earned honorable mention honors. Each region also selected four “of the year” award winners.
Honored as the 2023 GPAC Setter of the Year, Burtwistle earned First Team All-GPAC accolades this season after earning second team honors in 2022. The Stanton, Neb., native quarterbacks an offense that leads the NAIA with an average of 14.69 kills per set. Individually, Burtwistle ranks first in the GPAC and third nationally in assists per set (11.80). Over 28 matches this season (95 sets), Burtwistle has totaled 1,1121 assists, 267 digs, 64 kills, 36 blocks and 32 aces. Burtwistle has accumulated 3,188 assists in 112 career matches.
Nordaker has pulled in First Team All-GPAC honors for the third-straight year. She was also named a second team selection as a freshman in 2020. The Millard West High School alum sports GPAC rankings of third in hitting percentage (.337) and sixth in blocks per set (1.19) in 2023. She has totaled 260 kills and 112 blocks on the year. Earlier this season, Nordaker notched her 1,000th career kill. Through 113 career matches, Nordaker has produced 1,153 kills and 454 blocks. Nordaker will continue to add to her numbers in 2024 as she announced she’ll return to the program for a fifth year.
Thanks to the extra year of competition, Opfer claimed her fifth career All-GPAC award in 2023. She was recognized as second team in both 2019 and 2020 before moving up to the first team in 2021 through 2023. Opfer also picked up the GPAC Freshman of the Year award in 2019. The do-it-all Opfer owns a 2023 stat line that shows 283 kills (3.25/set), 316 digs (3.63/set), 37 blocks and 20 aces. An NAIA Second Team All-American last year, Opfer has piled up career totals of 1,551 kills, 1,657 digs, 212 blocks and 83 aces in 144 matches. On the program’s all-time lists, Opfer ranks No. 3 for both kills and digs.
The GPAC’s 2022 Freshman of the Year, Keck has taken a leap forward in her sophomore year and leads the team with 319 kills (3.51/set). Keck was named Second Team All-GPAC in 2023. She is hitting .200 from the outside and has tallied 238 digs (2.62/set) while taking on a larger role. The Kearney, Neb., native ranks sixth among GPAC players in kills per set. Keck has posted 592 kills over her first two collegiate seasons.