SEWARD, Neb. – Other than a shaky start to the third set, the second-ranked Concordia University, Nebraska Volleyball team handled its business in the quarterfinal round of the 2024 GPAC tournament. The Bulldogs sent seventh-seeded Dakota Wesleyan packing, 25-23, 25-13, 25-19, while limiting the visitors from Mitchell, S.D., to a .126 hitting percentage. The combination of Ashley Keck (29 digs) and Becca Gebhardt (19 digs) cleaned up in the back row on Saturday (Nov. 9).
Head Coach Ben Boldt’s squad will carry a 23-2 overall record into the GPAC semifinals. Concordia has reached at least the conference semis for the sixth-straight season.
“We got on our team there in the third set when we got down 6-1,” Boldt said. “We can’t just assume that we step out on the floor and we’re going to win. We have to go make things happen. We have to compete. How we respond to something that doesn’t go great – that’s what postseason is all about. Being gritty is our motto this year. I think we did a great job of being gritty when we were down and got ourselves in a great spot to compete.”
To the Tigers’ credit, they made the Bulldogs sweat out the opening set. It was even at 22-22 after an ace from Abigail Zegar. Gabi Nordaker followed with a kill and Ella Waters put it on ice with kills for point Nos. 24 and 25 of the set. Dakota Wesleyan enjoyed its best attacking effort of the night in that opening set, going for 15 kills compared to six hitting errors during that stretch. Concordia seized on the missed opportunity and ran away with the second set (17 kills and only three errors).
In the final set, DWU raced out to the aforementioned 6-1 lead and seemingly had shaken off the Bulldog push while leading 16-14 late in the set. However, Concordia won the next five points and never looked back. Match point came on Kya Scott’s 10th kill of the night. Moments later, Ashlyn Wischmeier did the honors of ringing the bell in the aftermath of the Bulldogs moving to 10-1 at home this season.
The Tigers attempted to throw Concordia off its game with their service tactics. Said Boldt, “They served us short a lot. We have to come in front of the 10-foot line to pass the ball, which takes away some of our approach. In those cases, other people have to make themselves available to attack. It was a little strategy on their part, and we have to communicate in those circumstances. When teams give you different looks, we have to keep working through that. We had to make some adjustments and just go make plays.”
Waters and Scott tied for a match high with 10 kills apiece. Another four Bulldogs recorded at least six kills: Gabi Nordaker (eight), Keck (seven), Addie Kirkegaard (six) and Ava Greene (six). Nordaker added four blocks to her stat line while the setter combo of Lily Psencik and Savannah Shelburne combined for 44 assists. Gebhardt landed a pair of aces and was strong in serve receive. As a team, Concordia owned advantages of .225 to .126 in hitting percentage, 49-33 in kills and 77-64 in digs. DWU ends its season at 13-16 overall.
Now riding an 11-match win streak, the Bulldogs are a confident bunch. Said Psencik, “All the GPAC teams are good. It’s a really hard conference to play in, so we just take it one match at a time … Our focus going into it is to stay gritty while also having fun on the court. Knowing that we have trust in each other gives us confidence.”
The Bulldogs will be back at home on Wednesday for the GPAC semifinal round. No. 22 Midland (17-10) stands in the way of Concordia’s attempt to reach the GPAC tournament title match for a fourth-straight season. First serve on Wednesday is slated for 7 p.m. CT. During the regular season, the Bulldogs won both meetings with the Warriors.