SEWARD, Neb. – Following a weekend on the road, the fourth-ranked Concordia University Volleyball team looks forward to a return to Friedrich Arena. The Bulldogs are now halfway through GPAC regular season play after taking care of business in road wins over Waldorf (straight sets) and Dakota Wesleyan (four sets). Entering the week at 14-2 overall (7-1 GPAC), Head Coach Ben Boldt’s squad will have several days to prepare for the arrival of Briar Cliff and Morningside. Prior to first serve on Saturday, Concordia will honor a group of six seniors.
This Week
Friday, Oct. 11 vs. Briar Cliff (6-14, 0-8 GPAC), 7:30 p.m.
--Live Webcast | Live Stats | Location: Friedrich Arena (Seward, Neb.)
Saturday, Oct. 12 vs. Morningside (17-6, 5-3 GPAC), 3 p.m.
--104.9 Max Country | Live Webcast | Live Stats | Location: Friedrich Arena (Seward, Neb.)
--Senior Day
By the numbers
· A new set of NAIA national ratings was released on Oct. 2. The Bulldogs remained steady at No. 4 in the coaches’ poll. Concordia has spent this entire season inside the top five and was ranked as high as No. 3. Based on the current top 25, the Bulldogs have defeated three ranked opponents: No. 9 Indiana Wesleyan University, No. 15 Viterbo University (Wis.) and No. 18 Midland. Concordia also owns two wins over teams in the “receiving votes” category: Columbia College (Mo.) and MidAmerica Nazarene University (Kan.). GPAC rival Northwestern (19-0, 8-0 GPAC) was a unanimous No. 1 (all 20 first-place votes) in the latest poll and remains undefeated.
· The GPAC road record has moved to 4-0 after the wins last week at Waldorf and Dakota Wesleyan. The Bulldogs defeated the Warriors of Forest City, Iowa, 25-17, 33-31, 25-13, and the Tigers of Mitchell, S.D., 25-14, 25-19, 22-25, 25-13. Concordia’s combined statistical leaders in those two matches were Ashley Keck in kills (32), Gabi Nordaker in blocks (10), Becca Gebhardt in digs (45), Savannah Shelburne in assists (54) and Shandy Fa’ali’i in aces (four). In addition, Nordaker added 27 kills and Ella Waters produced 24 kills. Notably, sophomore Ava Greene notched a career high 10 kills in the win at Dakota Wesleyan. Greene has seen increased playing time in the absence of junior Molli Martin. The Bulldogs met up with new GPAC member Waldorf for the first time since 2019.
· A native of Norfolk, Neb., Becca Gebhardt moved to fifth place on the program’s all-time digs list over the weekend. She ran her career dig total to 1,443, pushing her past Marissa Hoerman (1,437) for No. 5 on the list. The top four digs leaders in school history are Becky Ernstmeyer (2,235), Carli Smith (1,761), Camryn Opfer (1,671) and Jocelyn Garcia (1,594). Meanwhile, Gabi Nordaker sits No. 6 on the program’s all-time kills list with 1,298. She is fast approaching the likes of Paige Getz (1,331) and Rachel Kirchner (1,315). Nordaker is one of three players in program history with more than 1,000 kills and 500 blocks for a career.
· Concordia remains an offensive force. On the national statistical leaderboards, the Bulldogs rank second in kills per set (14.34) and 10th in hitting percentage (.246). Concordia has accomplished those lofty rankings while using a balanced attack including five players with more than 100 kills on the season: Ashley Keck (192), Ella Waters (165), Gabi Nordaker (138), Addie Kirkegaard (130) and Kya Scott (105). The offense has continued humming as it has adjusted to a 6-2 system that relies on the setting abilities of Lily Psencik and Savannah Shelburne. From a GPAC perspective, Keck (3.37 kills per set) and Waters (2.89 kills per set) rank sixth and 14th, respectively, in kills per set.
· The 2023 Bulldogs set a new program record for GPAC wins in a season while finishing with a 14-2 league mark and a share of the regular season title. Concordia is on track to challenge that record as it stands 7-1 in league play. Two more wins would guarantee an above .500 GPAC record for the sixth straight season under the Boldts’ leadership. Since the start of the ’22 season, the Bulldogs have gone a combined 33-7 in conference regular season action.
· The seniors have had a major role in the aforementioned recent success. The senior class includes Becca Gebhardt, Kelsi Heard, Cassidy Knust, Macy McClain, DeLaney Novy and Ashlyn Wischmeier. Those seniors arrived in the fall of 2021 and were part of the ’21 team that reached the quarterfinals of the NAIA national tournament and helped the ’23 team earn a share of the GPAC regular season championship. Over their time at Concordia, the program owns a combined record of 83-24 and is on track to qualify for another national tournament.
The opponents
Briar Cliff will carry an 0-8 league mark into Friedrich Arena after it was beaten twice at home this past weekend. It suffered losses to College of Saint Mary and Mount Marty. Head Coach Lindsey Weatherford is in her sixth season leading the program, which is coming off a 7-23 record (2-14 GPAC) in 2023. The Chargers graduated their two All-GPAC players from last season, Toria Andre and Sami Wasmund. Briar Cliff’s leading attacker is Emma Brenelli, who has accumulated 149 kills while hitting .116. As a team, the Chargers are hitting .122 while their opponents are hitting .167. Briar Cliff’s most recent win over the Bulldogs came in 2017.
Morningside broke through with an NAIA national tournament appearance in 2023 (resulting in a loss to Indiana University Kokomo in the opening round). The occasion marked the Mustangs’ ninth all-time national tournament berth and first since 2019. On the strength of an 11-2 start to this season, Morningside vaulted to No. 15 in the NAIA coaches’ poll released on Sept. 4. They have since dropped from the top 25. Head Coach Jessica Squier (fifth season) returns First Team All-GPAC outside hitter Sydney Marlow and second team all-conference setter Aleksandra Dalach. The Mustangs enter this week riding a four-match GPAC win streak. Their signature victory out of conference came over then 15th-ranked Montana Western. Marlow paces the team with 264 kills (3.30 per set) on the season. Morningside is hitting .198 as a team while holding opponents to a .122 hitting percentage. The Mustangs last defeated Concordia in 2019.
Next week
The Bulldogs will be back on the road next week as they look ahead to matchups with College of Saint Mary on Oct. 16 and with Dordt on Oct. 19. Concordia defeated the Flames in four sets in Seward on Sept. 11.