SEWARD, Neb. – Just 10 days after reporting to campus, the Concordia University Volleyball team will open its 2024 season on Friday while hosting the annual Bulldog Bash. The Bulldogs will be joined at the event by College of Saint Mary, Hastings, Lewis-Clark State College (Idaho) and Oklahoma City University. The Bulldog Bash will feature two matches on Friday and three on Saturday. All contests will take place inside Friedrich Arena. The Bulldog Bash dates back to the 2015 season.
2024 Bulldog Bash
--Live Streams: https://www.gpacnetwork.com/cune/
--Live Stats: https://naiastats.prestosports.com/sports/wvball/scoreboard
--Radio: https://ruralradio.com/maxcountry/ (Concordia matches only)
--Tickets: https://www.cune.edu/athletics/tickets (also sold on site)
Friday, Aug. 16
· 4 p.m. – Hastings vs. Oklahoma City
· 6:30 p.m. – Concordia vs. Lewis-Clark State
Saturday, Aug. 17
· 10 a.m. – College of Saint Mary vs. Oklahoma City
· 12:30 p.m. – Hastings vs. Lewis-Clark State
· 3 p.m. – Concordia vs. Oklahoma City
Head Coach Ben Boldt and his staff got a closer look at their 2024 team this past Saturday as part of an intra-squad scrimmage. Expectations remain high for a program that has qualified for five-straight national tournaments. The 2023 squad went 25-4 overall and rose as high as No. 1 in the NAIA coaches’ poll. From a personnel standpoint, the Bulldogs welcome back four All-GPAC players: Gabi Nordaker (first team), Ashley Keck (second team), Becca Gebhardt (honorable mention) and Cassidy Knust (honorable mention). The two-time NAIA All-American Nordaker (1,160 kills and 458 blocks in 114 career matches) has returned for a fifth season while making use of the COVID exemption. Meanwhile, fellow All-GPAC award winners Bree Burtwistle, Camryn Opfer and Carly Rodaway exhausted their eligibility in 2023.
Concordia landed at No. 2 in the GPAC Preseason Volleyball Coaches’ Poll released on Aug. 8. Boldt’s crew shared the 2023 GPAC regular season title with Northwestern and Jamestown. The Red Raiders enter this season as the conference favorite after having collected 11 of the 12 first-place votes. The rest of the GPAC’s preseason top five includes Midland, Morningside and College of Saint Mary. The NAIA’s preseason national poll is scheduled to be released on Wednesday. The Bulldogs finished last season ranked No. 4 nationally. Another Bulldog Bash entrant, College of Saint Mary was ranked No. 16 at the close of 2023.
Bulldog Bash Field
Concordia University Bulldogs
Head Coach: Ben Boldt, 7th season
2023 Record: 25-4 (NAIA National Qualifier)
Location: Seward, Nebraska
Conference: Great Plains Athletic Conference
College of Saint Mary Flames
Head Coach: Rick Preutt, 8th season
2023 Record: 22-9 (NAIA National Qualifier)
Location: Omaha, Nebraska
Conference: Great Plains Athletic Conference
Hastings College Broncos
Head Coach: Alex Allard, 6th season
2023 Record: 9-16
Location: Hastings, Nebraska
Conference: Great Plains Athletic Conference
Lewis-Clark State College Warriors
Head Coach: Katie (Hinrichs) Palmer, 2nd season
2023 Record: 10-18
Location: Lewiston, Idaho
Conference: Cascade Collegiate Conference
Oklahoma City University Stars
Head Coach: Kristen Coventon, 6th season
2023 Record: 14-13
Location: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Conference: Sooner Athletic Conference
Up next
The Bulldogs will hit the road for the first time this season when they make their way to Columbia, Mo., for the Columbia College Power Quad the weekend of Aug. 23-24. As part of that event, Concordia will take on host Columbia, defending national champion Indiana Wesleyan University and MidAmerica Nazarene University (Kan.).