MITCHELL, S.D. – It was a quick turnaround for the fourth-ranked Concordia University Volleyball team following Friday’s straight sets win at Waldorf in Forest City, Iowa. The Bulldogs trekked to Mitchell, S.D., on Saturday (Oct. 5) and pulled out a win over Dakota Wesleyan, 25-14, 25-19, 22-25, 25-13, behind 19 kills and 25 digs from Ashley Keck. Concordia hit .283 or better in each of the sets that it won.
Head Coach Ben Boldt’s squad has been perfect on the road within GPAC play (4-0) and moved to 14-2 overall (7-1 GPAC). The Bulldogs took control of their latest match with a decisive first set.
“Again, we came out really focused and executed really well in that first set,” Boldt said. “I thought that we served well. We weren’t getting a lot of blocks, but we were digging the ball in system and we were able to kill the ball. It was great focus coming out of the gate. We sustained it into the second set and we couldn’t quite close it out in the third. Dakota Wesleyan made some plays and we had a couple errors. It was nice to see us turn it around in the fourth and really put them away. I thought we refocused and did a nice job.”
Not only did Keck clean up in the back row, so too did libero Becca Gebhardt, who piled up 32 digs in a starring effort that helped limit the Tigers to a .108 hitting percentage. The passing of Gebhardt helped set tee up four Bulldog attackers that reached double figures in kills: Keck (19), Gabi Nordaker (14), Ella Waters (11) and Ava Greene (10). The 10 kills were a career high for the Papillion, Neb., native Greene.
DWU (8-11, 3-5 GPAC), an NAIA national qualifier in 2021 and 2022, found some traction in the third set. A five-point run for the Tigers in that set helped spark them to a triumph that extended the match into a fourth. DWU was led by the 13 kills from Evy Knoblock. It managed only two service aces in the face of a strong defensive effort for Concordia.
Nordaker added four blocks to her stat line and the setter duo of Savannah Shelburne (32 assists) and Lily Psencik (23 assists) assisted on 55 of the team’s 64 kills (.261 hitting percentage). On the other side of the net, the Tigers posted only 32 kills. Shandy Fa’ali’i landed two of Concordia’s five aces (to go against eight team service errors). As part of the back row, Cassidy Knust added 13 digs.
This was the lengthiest road trip of the GPAC regular season for a Bulldog squad that traveled to Columbia, Mo., as part of nonconference action. Concordia passed the test and will now have nearly a week before its next outing.
Said Boldt, “The road trip was a long one. You play late on Friday and then midday the next day with travel in between. I was proud of our ability to focus for long periods of time. It was a grind, but that’s what this conference is.”
The Bulldogs will return to Friedrich Arena to host the GPAC’s Sioux City residents, Briar Cliff (6-14, 0-8 GPAC) and Morningside (17-6, 5-3 GPAC), the weekend of Oct. 11-12. Concordia will celebrate a class of six seniors on Saturday, Oct. 12. The Bulldogs own a home record of 5-1 this season.