Nebraska Wesleyan powers past Concordia, 3-0

Nebraska Wesleyan cruised to a 3-0 GPAC volleyball win over Concordia University on Wednesday evening in Seward.  Scores of the match were 25-12, 25-21 and 25-13.  The visiting Prairie Wolves moved to 16-2 overall on the season with a 5-1 mark in the GPAC with the win.  Concordia slipped to 10-11 on the season.  The Bulldogs are 0-6 in conference play. 

Concordia kept game one close in the early stages.  Nebraska Wesleyan used an 8-2 run down the stretch to pull away for the 25-12 win. 

The Bulldogs played much better in game two and held an 18-14 lead at one point.  However, Wesleyan quickly got back in the set and tied the score at 19-19.  The score was tied on two more occasions, but the Prairie Wolves scored the final four points of the set to take a commanding 2-0 lead. 

Nebraska Wesleyan jumped out to an early lead in the third game and didn’t look back.  NWU led 10-4 early on and continued to pour it on down the stretch. 

Laura Brammeier had a double-double with 11 kills and 17 digs to lead the way for NWU in the win.  Zoie Smetter delivered nine kills, while Kelsey Elman and Hannah Behrens added eight kills apiece for the Prairie Wolves.  Caitlin Anderson handed out 31 set assists on the evening. 

Chelsea Vaudt had 10 kills for the Bulldogs in the loss.  Alex Szalawiga added five kills.  Kaylie Mellema had 10 set assists, while Nico Ethofer and Sloan Brandon had 10 digs apiece. 

The Bulldogs travel to Dakota Wesleyan on Friday for a 7:30 pm contest against the Tigers.  Concordia then travels to Yankton on Saturday for a 3 pm matchup against Mount Marty College.