OMAHA, Neb. – In the second go-round this season with in-state rival College of Saint Mary, third-ranked Concordia University, Nebraska Volleyball took control at the net and finished emphatically. A 15-3 blocking advantage fueled the Bulldog victory by a count of, 25-18, 19-25, 25-20, 25-13, on Saturday (Oct. 17) afternoon in Omaha, Neb. Bella Hedke snuffed out eight Flames attacks while freshman Samantha Kimbell sizzled from the outside with a career-high tying 13 kills.
Concordia has hit the 20-win mark (20-3 overall) for the sixth time during the tenures of coaches Ben and Angie Boldt. The season sweep of CSM pushed the Bulldogs to 11-1 in league play.
Said Ben Boldt, “College of Saint Mary is a good team. They were hustling back to the service line and serving the ball very quickly after the referee signaled for serve. They put us under pressure a little faster than we're used to, and that got us out of rhythm a little bit. It was a quick adjustment. We told the players they needed to be ready before the whistle, and once we made that adjustment, we had better rhythm, better passing angles and were much more in system.”
On the block, Concordia’s middles and right sides enjoyed a field day. Four different Bulldogs contributed to at least four denials: Hedke (eight), Makenna Starkey (seven), Laynee Baker (six) and Maddie Paulsen (four). Naturally, the errors piled up on the other side of the net as the Flames hit just .085 with 45 kills compared to 32 errors. In the Concordia back row, Myla Emery (14) and Shandy Fa’ali’i (10) both reached double figures in digs.
A native of Dakota Dunes, S.D., Kimbell continues to put together a fine rookie season. She swatted kills on seven of her first 12 attempts on Saturday and finished with a sultry .481 hitting percentage. She benefitted from the strong distribution of Emery (23 assists) and Ella Brueggemann (18 assists) at the setter position. Fa’ali’i led the team with 14 kills while four other teammates produced at least five kills. Concordia hit .275 with 52 kills as a team.
Noted Boldt, “The right sides were especially effective. Baker and Maddie P both hit for good percentages tonight, and that really opens up the entire offense, not just their own opportunities. It keeps the other team off balance when we're able to do that. We've also been working on the sets to the back side for our right-side hitters, trying to get the ball a little farther out toward the pin. We executed that really well today.”
Ella Brueggemann and Clara Evert chipped in with two aces apiece. Kimbell added two blocks to her stat line. The Flames edged Concordia in aces, 7-6.
Prior to the match, CSM (14-12, 4-8 GPAC) honored star middle Azaria Green for recently reaching 1,000 career kills. She added 10 more kills on Saturday. Briar Ray and Kate Vondrak paced the Flames with 11 kills apiece.
The Bulldogs will be idle for a full week before taking on another in-state road trip. Concordia will meet No. 11 Midland (16-7, 7-4 GPAC) in Fremont for a 5 p.m. CT varsity first serve on Oct. 24. In this season’s first matchup contested on Sept. 9, the Bulldogs swept the Warriors out of Friedrich Arena.
Concordia plans to make the most of the midweek bye. Said Boldt, “We need to continue getting better. I think our team is young, and they understand that. After the Northwestern game, we identified one or two things for each person to work on. If they can really focus on improving those individual areas, collectively, we're going to be really good. We just have to take it one day at a time.”