ASHLAND, Ore. – After playing nine sets a day earlier at the Raider Invitational, the 11th-ranked Concordia University Volleyball team showed no signs of fatigue on Friday (Aug. 19). The Bulldogs returned to action in Ashland, Ore., and quickly dispatched of Park University-Gilbert (Ariz.), 25-19, 25-11, 25-16, behind the sparkling attacking efforts of Carly Rodaway and Gabi Nordaker. The Buccaneers also struggled with Concordia’s serve game.
Head Coach Ben Boldt’s squad effectively completed a 3-0 run at the Raider Invitational in the opening act of the 2022 season. The Bulldogs defeated No. 19 Oregon Tech and event host Southern Oregon University.
“The word I would use to describe is we played a clean game,” Boldt said following the latest victory. “We didn’t make a whole lot of errors and served the ball well without making many errors. We were making great decisions and I think that was the difference in today.
“Our serving took them out of what they wanted to do and then we played good defense and made good choices offensively. It took us a little bit to get going. We were point-for-point for a while in the first set and then we kind of pulled away. Carly Rodaway had a really great game. She managed the game really well.”
As Boldt mentioned, the first set on Friday was competitive as the two sides were knotted at one point, 16-16. Concordia then got on a roll that carried over into dominant second and third sets. While closing out the first set, the Bulldogs put away points 21 through 25 on kills by Kalee Wiltfong, Rodaway, Rodaway again, Camryn Opfer and finally, Gabi Nordaker. Park was unable to stop Rodaway (14 kills on 27 swings) or Nordaker (12 kills on 19 swings).
The contrast was significant in service. Concordia served aggressively and still had only two errors (compared to four aces). On the other side of the net, the Buccaneers, a 2021 national qualifier, failed to record a single ace while committing 10 service errors. They found it difficult to find the floor as Bree Burtwistle (17 digs), Rebecca Gebhardt (17 digs) and Opfer (11 digs) cleaned up serve receive and in the face of the opposing attack. The Bulldogs owned the advantage in hitting percentage, .280 to .119. The highest kill total for a Park player was just six – by Railey Druxman.
Opfer also added eight kills, two blocks and an ace. The Seward High School product ran her career totals to 978 kills and 983 digs as she continues to close in on the 1,000-1,000 career milestones. Also on Friday, Nordaker registered three blocks and Burstwistle accumulated 33 assists.
Over the past two days, Boldt saw a team that was physically and mentally ready to meet the challenge in Oregon. It also took time to enjoy unfamiliar scenery with a boat ride on a nearby river. Concordia took both the varsity and junior varsity teams on the trip.
Said Boldt, “Our offseason conditioning prepared us to come in and prepare a four-set and then a five-set match yesterday and still come back and be ready to play today. That’s a testament to their work ethic in the summer and all offseason. That was a big reason why we came out on top of these matches.”
Concordia will make its first home appearance next weekend as it hosts the Bulldog Bash (Aug. 26-27). The opposition for those matches will be McPherson College (Kan.) and Texas Wesleyan University. Both foes received votes in the NAIA preseason coaches’ poll. The entire Bulldog Bash schedule can be viewed HERE.