NAIA Pool Play Results | PHOTOS >>
SIOUX CITY, Iowa – Concordia University, Nebraska Volleyball had the look of a team on a mission. In a sharp performance on Friday (Dec. 6), the fourth-seeded Bulldogs booked their ticket to the NAIA National Quarterfinals for the third time in five seasons. Concordia emerged as the Pool D winner while toppling No. 13 seed Mount Vernon Nazarene University (Ohio), 25-18, 25-15, 25-21, with the help of another fine defensive effort.
The win washes away some of the frustration that Head Coach Ben Boldt’s program felt after being defeated in pool play in 2022 and 2023. The Bulldogs will carry a 27-3 overall record into Saturday’s quarterfinal round.
“I’m super glad that they get to experience it,” Boldt said. “I think we approached it mentally in a great way. If you lose a game, it doesn't mean you’re a bad volleyball player. If you win a game, it doesn’t mean you’re a great volleyball player. We just need to be who we are, and our team supports each other. We come back to our core values all the time. That’s basically what we kept saying to each other. Our theme this year has been ‘grit,’ and I think we owned that mentality today.”
These are the moments that All-American middle Gabi Nordaker came back for a ‘COVID year’ to experience. Nordaker delivered match point with a kill that prompted a celebratory Dawg-pile. A Cougar squad out of the Crossroads League that won 31 matches this season had no answer for Concordia’s service and blocking. The Bulldogs landed seven aces and held a 9-5 blocking advantage. The block party was led by Ava Greene, who notched six block assists.
The national tournament exit of top-ranked Northwestern prior to Concordia’s match served as another lesson for how dreams can be crushed when a team doesn’t bring its best to the national stage. On this day, the Bulldogs were too focused and too determined to allow for another pool play disappointment. After going down 7-3 in the opening set, a combined block by Greene and Ella Waters helped turn the tide. Concordia dominated the rest of the set and then scorched MVNU in the second.
This is the fifth trip to the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa, for Nordaker, who has been part of all three national quarterfinal appearances in the program’s history. She tallied nine kills and three blocks while hitting .412 on Friday. Nordaker has played in 17 career national tournament matches. The Millard West High School product will get at least one more.
Said Nordaker, “I think there was a bit of revenge this year after nationals last year, losing in the pool play match against Midland. There was a nervousness around this match, but it was more of an excited nervous. We were ready for this game. We were prepared for this moment, so it’s very exciting.”
A likely All-American in 2024, Ashley Keck put away a team high 12 kills to go along with five digs and two blocks on Friday. Four of her teammates also registered at least four kills: Nordaker (nine), Addie Kirkegaard (six), Waters (five) and Kya Scott (four). There were six Concordia players with at least one block (Kirkegaard collected four in addition to the six from Greene). In the back row, Becca Gebhardt (19) and Cassidy Knust (10) cleaned up. The Bulldogs finished with 39 kills while quarterbacked by setters Lily Psencik and Savannah Shelburne. Two aces apiece came from Psencik and Ashlyn Wischmeier.
On the other hand, the Cougars used a 5-1 system that funneled attacking opportunities to the likes of Lyssi Snouffer (13 kills), Faith Maloney (eight kills) and Libby Evanshine (five kills). MVNU hit only .089 while up against the formidable Concordia block. The Cougars reached the national tournament for the fifth time in their program’s history.
Said Boldt of what worked on Friday, “I love our system and our personnel that we have. I think the 6-2 with our two setters and two big right sides can match up against anybody. It’s tough to get around our block. We need to continue to keep flow with our offense. When we do that with our balance, we’re a tough team to defend. We don’t rely on one person too much in our system. The strength of the team is our balance.”
As of late afternoon on Friday, the Bulldogs’ quarterfinal opponent had yet to be determined. Concordia knows it will play at 2 p.m. CT on Saturday against the winner of Pool E. A tiebreaker situation will play out in that pool between No. 5 Bellevue University, No. 12 University of Providence (Mont.) and No. 20 Marian University (Ind.). The Bulldogs are vying to reach the national semifinals for the first time in program history. The quarterfinal match will be carried live by 104.9 Max Country and on NAIAnetwork.com.
UPDATE: Concordia's opponent in the national quarterfinals will be Bellevue. The Bruins emerged victorious from tiebreaker action late on Friday night.
Bellevue enters the national quarterfinals with an overall record of 30-4. The national tournament path for the Bruins has included wins over Texas Wesleyan University (four sets) in the opening round and No. 20 Marian University (Ind.) (three sets) at the final site. After being handed a straight sets loss by No. 12 University of Providence (Mont.) in pool play, Bellevue returned to the Tyson Events Center late on Friday night for tiebreaker action. Bellevue proceeded to win a single tiebreaker set over both Marian and Providence to advance to the quarterfinals. Like Concordia, the Bruins have reached the quarterfinals for the third time in program history and are aiming to get to the semifinals for the first time. Head Coach Trish Siedlik is in her 19th season leading Bellevue. Siedlik has won a combined 662 matches in her tenures at College of Saint Mary and Bellevue. Four Bruins were named 2024 North Star Athletic Association first team all-conference honorees, including league player of the year Kealy Kiviniemi, a junior right side from Bellevue, Nebraska. In a matchup that took place in Omaha on Aug. 30, Bellevue defeated Concordia in straight sets as part of the CSM Labor Day Classic. The Bruins were ranked fifth in the most recent NAIA coaches’ poll and are seeded fifth at the final site.