ORANGE CITY, Iowa – The conference winning streak lives on for second-ranked Northwestern, the 2025 NAIA national runner up. On the strength of superior serving and passing, the Red Raiders defeated the third-ranked Concordia University, Nebraska Volleyball team, 25-23, 25-15, 25-22, in Orange City, Iowa, on Saturday (Oct. 10) afternoon. Maddie Paulsen produced a team-high four blocks for the Bulldogs.
The result snapped a 12-match winning streak for Head Coach Ben Boldt’s squad (18-3, 9-1 GPAC), which fell for the first time in conference play. Meanwhile, Northwestern (20-1, 10-0 GPAC) took over sole possession of first place with six matches remaining in the regular season.
“It was starting with our passing for sure,” as Boldt explained the on-court happenings. “They're a tough serving team, and we had to make adjustments with our passing. I thought we were passing a lot better toward the end of the match, so from that standpoint, I thought we did a good job of figuring things out – but serving and passing-wise, they won that battle today.”
The Red Raiders dominated the second set by hitting an eye-popping .536 (16 kills and just one error). However, the first and third sets were up for grabs. In the opening set, Concordia pulled within 24-23 after an attack error. Reigning GPAC Player of the Year Stella Winterfeld respond with a kill for set point. In the third set, the Bulldogs edged in front, 22-21, on a kill from Shandy Fa’ali’i. Northwestern regrouped and rattled off the final four points, three of which coming on Concordia attack errors.
Ranked second nationally in kills per set (4.87), Winterfeld led all players with 15 kills (on 32 swings). The Bulldogs managed to block two of her attacks (and seven others landed out of bounds). Northwestern stayed in system more frequently, leading to a .272 hitting percentage and 43 kills (compared to .165 hitting and 37 kills by Concordia). Setter Nya Potthoff (38 assists) spurred the Red Raider attack.
Despite the result, Boldt found positive takeaways from the learning experience at the Bultman Center, a venue that has hosted the Bulldogs for each of the past three GPAC Championship Matches.
Said Boldt, “Mostly, I was proud of our team's mindset, just in terms of being competitive and never feeling like we were defeated. I thought we had a good mindset all the way through. We had a little bit of a lull in the second set, where there was more separation in the score, but competitively, I thought we were in it. I think our team understands that we need to get better and cleaner. We were at 22-22 in the third set, and we made three errors in a row. It really comes down to being clean down the stretch. We’ll learn from it and get better.”
Fa’ali’i finished with a team-high eight kills on 26 swings. Four others notched six or seven kills: Bella Hedke (seven), Makenna Starkey (seven), Laynee Baker (six) and Samantha Kimbell (six). Starkey added three blocks. Other statistical leaders were Myla Emery in assists (22) and Ella Brueggemann in digs (10). Three Concordia players recorded on ace apiece.
Northwestern has won an impressive 51 GPAC regular season matches in a row. The Red Raiders also toppled No. 11 Midland in four sets on Friday night. On Saturday, Northwestern’s cause was spurred by three aces apiece from Winterfeld and Maggie Bloom as part of a strong service performance. The Red Raiders held a 7-3 advantage in aces. The Bulldogs slightly outnumbered Northwestern in blocks, 6-5.
A return to Friedrich Arena is coming Wednesday when the Bulldogs will play host to Mount Marty (11-15, 1-9 GPAC). The two sides met in Yankton, S.D., on Sept. 16 for a match that ended in a straight sets win for Concordia. Each of the past 26 series meetings have been won by the Bulldogs.