SEWARD, Neb. – It was a near automatic kill whenever the Bulldogs found Molli Martin in the middle on Wednesday (Oct. 22). The hot hand of Martin led the fourth-ranked Concordia University, Nebraska Volleyball team to a sweep of Mount Marty, 25-20, 25-20, 25-23, inside Friedrich Arena, where the program hosted its annual pink out match in support of breast cancer awareness. The Lancers roared out of the gates before the Bulldogs responded by settling in from a serve and pass perspective.
Head Coach Ben Boldt’s squad has earned four straight-set wins in a row to move to 19-2 overall (12-1 GPAC) as the regular season begins to wind down.
“I thought we stayed composed,” Boldt said. “We picked up our serving and passing after the first part of the first set. They were serving and passing better than us. That’s kind of what happened. Once we got back to focusing on our serve and pass, communicating and calling the ball, we got ourselves into more in-system scenarios. That was the evolution of the first set.”
The opening moments of Wednesday's match were the brightest ones for Mount Marty, which jetted out to an 8-1 advantage and forced an early Concordia timeout. When in system, the Bulldogs set to the middle and Martin powered the first-set comeback with kills for her side’s point Nos. 4, 5, 7, 14 and 15. The Lincoln Lutheran High School alum also contributed to two blocks in the first set, which concluded with an Emma Brueggemann ace. Martin finished with 10 kills on 12 swings (for a sizzling .750 hitting percentage) to go with three blocks.
The freshman libero Brueggemann continues to lead a back row that gives opposing attackers fits. The Lancers hit .076 for the night and failed to hit better than .156 in any of the three sets. Brueggemann led all players with 20 digs. In the front row, Maddie Paulsen and Ava Greene equaled Martin with three blocks of their own.
The always reliable Ashley Keck notched 10 kills, 15 digs and a pair of aces on Wednesday. In other noteworthy statistical efforts from Concordia, Ella Waters collected seven kills, Shandy Faalii landed a pair of aces and setters Savannah Shelburne (18 assists) and Lily Psencik (15 assists) combined for 33 assists. The Bulldogs hit .168 as a team.
Mount Marty (10-13, 3-9 GPAC) has dropped each of its past 25 meetings with Concordia. However, the Lancers gave the Bulldogs a strong push on Wednesday behind nine kills from Jaya Wachholtz. Mount Marty posted eight blocks.
Since falling for the first time in GPAC play back on Oct. 10, Concordia has elevated its play. Said Martin, “I think it lit a fire under us – just showing us what we don’t want to do again. It showed us that we’re going to have to fight and adjust a few things … Recently in games, I’ve been overthinking my attack. I tried to stop thinking and just play because that’s when I play the best.”
Said Boldt of Martin, “She had a great game. After the first set, she was hitting a thousand. She was able to sustain that all the way through. She had some pretty timely stuff blocks also. She had a great night tonight … We have to have a mindset that we need to continue to get better. That starts in the practice gym. We had three really good matches after Northwestern. This wasn’t necessarily our cleanest match. We have to have a mindset of continuing to get better.”
A short road trip is coming up Saturday as the Bulldogs will head to Omaha to take on College of Saint Mary (12-11, 5-7 GPAC). First serve of the varsity match is scheduled for 5 p.m. CT from the Lied Fitness Center. In Wednesday’s action, the Flames fell at No. 17 Midland in five sets. Max Country (104.9 FM) will have live coverage on Saturday.