SEWARD, Neb. – The NAIA Volleyball National Championship field has been trimmed to 24 teams following Saturday (Nov. 23)’s opening round action. The fourth-seeded Bulldogs are headed to the final site of the national tournament for the sixth-straight year after they defeated Our Lady of the Lake University (Texas) in straight sets. On Sunday, the NAIA announced pool play assignments for action that will begin at the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa, on Dec. 4. Head Coach Ben Boldt’s squad was seeded fourth and landed in Pool D. There are eight pools that each contain three teams.
As the top seed in Pool D of the national tournament, Concordia will take on No. 21 The Master’s University (Calif.) on Wednesday, Dec. 4 and No. 13 Mount Vernon Nazarene University (Ohio) on Friday, Dec. 6. Both contests are scheduled for 1 p.m. CT first serves. The winners of each of the eight pools will advance to single-elimination bracket play, which begins with the quarterfinals on Dec. 7.
NAIA Pool D
(4) Concordia (25-3) vs. (21) The Master’s (21-6)
Wednesday, Dec. 4 | 1 p.m. CST
Tyson Events Center | Sioux City, Iowa (Court 1)
Webcast: NAIA Network
Live Stats: Stat Broadcast
Radio: 104.9 Max Country (Frank Greene/Katie Funk)
Buy Tickets: TysonEventsCenter.com
(4) Concordia (25-3) vs. (13) Mount Vernon Nazarene (30-4)
Friday, Dec. 6 | 1 p.m. CST
Tyson Events Center | Sioux City, Iowa (Court 2)
Webcast: NAIA Network
Live Stats: Stat Broadcast
Radio: 104.9 Max Country (Frank Greene/Katie Funk)
Buy Tickets: TysonEventsCenter.com
By the numbers
· For the fourth year in a row, and for the fifth time in program history, the Bulldogs earned the right to host in the opening round as they welcomed Our Lady of the Lake to Seward on Nov. 23. The first and third sets were tight, but Concordia prevailed, 25-22, 25-19, 25-22, while hitting .351. Ashley Keck totaled 15 kills and 12 digs and Kya Scott and Ella Waters produced 10 kills apiece. Meanwhile, Gabi Nordaker added nine kills, Becca Gebhardt tallied 16 digs and the setter duo of Lily Psencik and Savannah Shelburne combined for 39 assists. On the other side, former Concordia head coach Scott Mattera’s squad hit .212 while giving a strong account of itself. The Bulldogs have won each of their past four opening round matches in straight sets.
· The Bulldogs are officially in the midst of their seventh all-time national tournament appearance. Each of the program’s 13 national tournament wins have come since Ben and Angie Boldt arrived at Concordia prior to the start of the 2018 season. The program’s first ever national tournament win occurred in 2019 when the Bulldogs defeated No. 19 Montana Tech in four sets. Concordia reached bracket play at the national tournament in 2019, 2020 and 2021, making it one of four programs in the NAIA to accomplish that feat (the others were Jamestown, Missouri Baptist and Northwestern). Concordia was upset by No. 13 Park University (Mo.) in 2022 with a spot in the quarterfinals on the line. Then in 2023, the Bulldogs also fell a win short of the quarterfinals while being tripped up in three sets by rival Midland in pool play.
· Concordia statistical leaders by category this season are: Ashley Keck in kills (338), Gabi Nordaker in hitting percentage (.357) and blocks (131), Savannah Shelburne in assists (617) and aces (31) and Becca Gebhardt in digs (432). There are five Bulldogs who have notched at least 200 kills: Keck, Ella Waters (263), Nordaker (242), Addie Kirkegaard (215) and Kya Scott (202). On Nov. 19, six Concordia players were recognized with all-conference awards: Keck (first team), Nordaker (first team), Waters (first team), Kirkegaard (second team), Gebhardt (honorable mention) and Shelburne (honorable mention). Keck received the highest honors while being tabbed the GPAC Attacker of the Year. As for Nordaker, she is now a four-time first team selection and a five-time All-GPAC honoree overall. Nordaker is bidding for a third career All-America award. On the program all-time lists, Nordaker ranks third in blocks (589) and fourth in kills (1,402), Gebhardt ranks fourth in digs (1,646) and Keck ranks 12th in kills (938).
· GPAC teams went 3-1 in the 2024 NAIA Opening Round. In addition to Concordia’s win over Our Lady of the Lake, Northwestern defeated Dillard University (La.), 3-0, and Midland toppled Dakota State University (S.D.), 3-1. Meanwhile, Morningside went on the road and was eliminated by Viterbo University (Wis.), 3-1. The GPAC is tied for the most final site participants among all NAIA conferences with three.
· Gone is Camryn Opfer after she appeared in 18 of the program’s first 19 national tournament matches. Opfer owns program records at the national tournament for career kills (227) and digs (272) on that stage. Opfer took advantage of an opportunity to play in five separate national tournaments and now so too has Gabi Nordaker. A Millard West High School product, Nordaker played in the 15th national tournament match of her career in the opening round clash with OLLU. In those 15 nationals contests, Nordaker has piled up 161 kills and 77 blocks. Her career highs for a single national tournament match are 25 kills (2020 five-set win over Lindsey Wilson) and 13 blocks (2021 five-set win over Viterbo). Among the seniors, this is the fourth national tournament journey for Becca Gebhardt, Cassidy Knust and Ashlyn Wischmeier.
· Concordia has entered the final site as the No. 4 seed for the third year in a row. Lofty national rankings have become the norm for the program. The Bulldogs have appeared inside the NAIA top 25 in 38 of the past 40 coaches’ polls (also received votes when not appearing in the top 25). During the 2023 season, Concordia twice landed the NAIA No. 1 ranking. The Bulldogs will finish as a nationally ranked team for the sixth year in a row. Concordia concluded the previous five seasons with national rankings of 14th in 2019, eighth in 2020, sixth in 2021 fourth in 2022 and 2023 (no rankings were issued after the national tournament in 2022 or 2023). For the Bulldogs to break new ground in 2024, in terms of national tournament advancement, they will need to reach at least the national semifinal round.
· Concordia owns wins over five teams that qualified for the 2024 national tournament: Columbia College (Mo.), Indiana Wesleyan University, Midland (three times), Morningside and Viterbo University (Wis.). Of those 2024 opponents, three have advanced to play in Sioux City. The only Bulldog losses this season came against teams that have reached the final site: No. 1 Northwestern and No. 5 Bellevue University.
The opponents
(21) The Master’s (21-6) – The Mustangs are located in Santa Clarita, Calif., and qualified for nationals for the fifth time in program history. In the opening round, 21st-seeded The Master’s cruised past Benedictine College (Kan.), 25-18, 25-15, 25-18, in California. The result marked the program’s sixth all-time victory on the national stage. Head Coach Annett Davis led the Mustangs to their first Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) tournament championship since 2018. The Master’s played two GPAC opponents at the College of Saint Mary Labor Day Classic (Aug. 30-31) and fell in four sets to Northwestern and in five sets to Midland. Davis was named the GSAC Coach of the Year and four Mustangs were named to the all-conference team: Grace Colburn, Ruby Duncan, Sierra Hale and Timberlie Miller. A junior outside hitter from Newport Beach, Calif., Colburn was tabbed the GSAC Player of the Year. Nationally, The Master’s ranks 15th in aces per set (2.19), 18th in hitting percentage (.230), 24th in kills per set (13.25), 73rd in blocks per set (1.86) and 75th in digs per set (16.73).
(13) Mount Vernon Nazarene (30-4) – Members of the Crossroads League, the Cougars will make their way to Sioux City via Mount Vernon, Ohio. Mount Vernon Nazarene is seeded 13th at the final site and earned its fifth national tournament qualification thanks to an at-large bid. The Cougars hosted Lindsey Wilson College (Ky.) in the opening round and won, 22-25, 25-21, 25-18, 25-23. There is one common opponent between MVNU and Concordia – Indiana Wesleyan. The Bulldogs edged the Wildcats in five sets while the Cougars dropped their two matchups with IWU in straight sets. Fifth-year Head Coach Kendra Mosher’s squad placed as the regular season runner up in the Crossroads and reached the conference tournament semifinals. Five MVNU players were named all-conference honorees, including first team selections in Lyssi Snouffer, Libby Evanshine and Reagan Nuss. On the national leaderboard, the Cougars rank 13th in kills per set (13.57), 19th in hitting percentage (.229), 51st in blocks per set (2.00), 58th in digs per set (16.98) and 113th in aces per set (1.60).
Bracket play
The winners from each of the eight pools will advance to bracket play on Dec. 7, which begins with the NAIA national quarterfinals. The semifinals will follow on Dec. 9 with the national championship match taking place on Dec. 10. All matches will be played at the Tyson Events Center.
Concordia National Tournament History
Seven appearances | 13-7 national tournament record | two-time national quarterfinalists
2015
Opening Round – L, 0-3 vs. Olivet Nazarene (Ill.)
2019
Pool Play – W, 3-1 vs. No. 19 Montana Tech
Pool Play – W, 3-0 vs. Saint Mary (Kan.)
Pool Play – L, 2-3 vs. No. 3 Indiana Wesleyan
RD of 16 – L, 0-3 vs. No. 4 Missouri Baptist
2020
Opening Round – W, 3-1 at Xavier (La.)
Pool Play – W, 3-2 vs. Lindsey Wilson (Ky.)
Pool Play – W, 3-1 vs. No. 7 Marian (Ind.)
Quarterfinals – L, 0-3 vs. No. 16 Dordt
2021
Opening Round – W, 3-0 vs. Ave Maria (Fla.)
Pool Play – W, 3-1 vs. No. 25 Oregon Tech
Pool Play – W, 3-2 vs. No. 2 Viterbo (Wis.)
Quarterfinals – L, 2-3 vs. No. 7 Marian (Ind.)
2022
Opening Round – W, 3-0 vs. Florida College
Pool Play – W, 3-1 vs. Hastings
Pool Play – L, 1-3 vs. No. 13 Park (Mo.)
2023
Opening Round – W, 3-0 vs. Judson (Ill.)
Pool Play – W, 3-0 vs. No. 21 Montana Tech
Pool Play – L, 0-3 vs. No. 13 Midland
2024
Opening Round – W, 3-0 vs. Our Lady of the Lake (Texas)