SEWARD, Neb. – Friedrich Arena will be the place to be to catch the first action of the 2021 Concordia University Volleyball season. Head Coach Ben Boldt’s program is preparing to host Mount Marty on Wednesday before welcoming Baker University (Kan.) and Bellevue University to campus for Saturday’s Bulldog Bash. Due to the quirks of last season, the Bulldogs have played an official match as recently as April 29 at the final site of the NAIA Volleyball National Championship.
This Week
Wednesday, Aug. 25 vs. Mount Marty (0-0), 7:30 p.m.
--Live Webcast/Stats (Concordia Sports Network) | 104.9 Max Country
Saturday, Aug. 28 – Bulldog Bash (all matches in Friedrich Arena)
Concordia (0-0) vs. Baker (0-0), 11 a.m.
Baker (0-0) vs. Bellevue (3-0), 1:30 p.m.
Concordia (0-0) vs. Bellevue (3-0), 4 p.m.
--Live Webcast/Stats (Concordia Sports Network) | 104.9 Max Country
*Note: All three matches will be streamed live via CSN. The two matches involving Concordia will also be carried by 104.9 Max Country.
Note for fans: Tickets to home volleyball matches can be purchased online via Concordia’s HomeTown ticketing page – or on site at Friedrich Arena on the day of matches. Currently, there are no capacity limits within the arena. Face coverings are not required. More details for fans can be found HERE.
Expectations are again high for Concordia. Its current NAIA preseason national ranking of seventh is the best in the history of the program. Back in April, the Bulldogs advanced to the NAIA national quarterfinals for the first time ever. Four of the five 2020 All-GPAC honorees return to the 2021 roster: Tara Callahan (first team), Gabi Nordaker (second team), Camryn Opfer (second team) and Arleigh Costello (honorable mention). Named honorable mention All-America in back-to-back seasons, Callahan made the decision to return for a fifth season of college volleyball. She has tallied 3,659 assists over her career.
The Bulldogs will immediately jump into conference play on Wednesday evening (junior varsity match precedes the varsity). While Concordia was pegged fourth in the GPAC preseason poll, the Lancers came in at No. 12. Mount Marty is coming off a season in which it went 5-22 overall (0-16 GPAC). The Bulldogs handed the Lancers two of their defeats, both in straight sets. After three seasons as an assistant in the program, Belen Albertos is now head coach at Mount Marty.
Concordia is looking forward to having an expanded nonconference slate after last year’s schedule was ravaged due to a number of opponents dropping off the calendar. The Bulldogs played Baker twice in 2019 and won both times in straight sets. Before venturing to Seward, the Wildcats will begin their season on Tuesday with two matches in Columbia, Mo. Baker was picked to finish 11th out of 14 teams in the Heart of America Athletic Conference preseason poll. The Wildcats bring back a couple of All-HAAC performers in Taylor Kile and Kelsey Simmons.
Based on the national poll, the Concordia-Bellevue matchup will be the showcase match of the week. The perennially strong Bruins checked in at No. 17 in the NAIA preseason poll. Bellevue has raced out to a 3-0 start that includes a signature win over sixth-ranked Eastern Oregon University. Haley Fleischman led the way with nine kills and five bocks in the upset victory. Head Coach Trish Siedlik (16th season at Bellevue) has won more than 550 career matches and has led the Bruins to national tournament appearances in 12 of the past 14 seasons. Concordia and Bellevue last met in 2017 with the result being a Bruin win in five sets. The most recent Bulldog victory in the series came in 2015 (four sets).
Following this week, Concordia will hit the road to play at No. 23 College of Saint Mary on Sept. 1 before traveling to Bellevue’s weekend classic Sept. 3-4.