Near-perfect performance drives dominant GPAC road victory
MITCHELL, S.D. – The Bulldog volleyball team equaled its win total from a year ago in the process of dispatching of host Dakota Wesleyan (4-11, 0-2 GPAC), 25-19, 25-16, 25-11, at the Corn Palace in Mitchell, S.D., on Friday night. The victory also gave head coach Scott Mattera’s team its first of the season inside the conference. Concordia improved to 10-5 overall and 1-3 in the GPAC.
Mattera said Friday’s effort was as crisp as he’s seen this season for his young squad. The Bulldogs hit .278 on the attack and did not commit a single error on serve receive as a great collective defensive effort stifled the Tigers.
“This was probably the best we’ve played this year, especially in the third game,” Mattera said. “We just made play after play with aces, blocks and kills. It was really pretty to see. We showed what we can be.”
Both junior Mariah Schamp and sophomore Claire White contributed in a big way in all facets of the game. Schamp and White tied for a match high 10 kills while hitting, .600 and .417, respectively. Defensively, Schamp piled up five block assists as well as a solo denial to go with four service aces. White notched a double-double with 12 digs.
On this night, Schamp and White got plenty of help as freshman setter Alayna Kavanaugh (36 assists) facilitated an offense with near-perfect execution.
“Kudos to Alayna,” Mattera said. “Her distribution was great again. When you can spread the attack around with 10 kills, eight and eight, you know you’re getting good play from your setter.”
Junior defensive specialist Carli Smith teamed with White and Schamp on the stellar defensive effort. Smith tallied a match high 14 digs and served as the key cog in Concordia’s perfect night on serve receive. In addition, the Bulldogs held Dakota Wesleyan to a .043 attack percentage in a snappy match that lasted just over an hour.
Freshman Taylor Workman paired with Schamp for a dominant performance in the middle. The Lincoln native totaled four block assists and two solos. Meanwhile on the outside, sophomore Kelsey Dinkel went for five block assists of her own. The Bulldogs racked up 12 blocks as a team.
“The stats tell the story,” Mattera said. “We really played a clean match, especially in game three.
“We’re exactly halfway through the season and we’ve already reached our win total from last season.”
Concordia avenged last season’s four-set loss at Dakota Wesleyan from a year ago (Concordia also defeated the Tigers at home in 2012). Mattera said that defeat added to the Bulldogs’ focus on Friday night. Concordia has now won four of the last five meetings in the series with the Tigers.
The Bulldogs remain in South Dakota on Saturday to take on Mount Marty (8-7, 0-1 GPAC) at 1:30 p.m. Last season Concordia defeated the Lancers in straight sets in the only meeting between the two squads.
