Volleyball hosts Faith Baptist Tuesday in first 2014-15 home athletic contest

By on Aug. 25, 2014 in Volleyball

Volleyball hosts Faith Baptist Tuesday in first 2014-15 home athletic contest

SEWARD, Neb. – Tuesday marks the official start of the 2014-15 Concordia University athletics season as the Bulldog volleyball team welcomes Faith Baptist Bible College. First serve as set for 6 p.m. from Walz Arena.

Faith Baptist, located in Ankeny, Iowa, is a member of the National Christian College Athletic Association’s (NCCAA) Midwest Christian College Conference (MCCC). Last season the Eagles went 20-15 overall with a 6-3 MCCC mark. They were 5-4 in road matches. Head coach Lanny Nihart owns a career record of 500-343 at Faith.

Meanwhile, third-year head coach Scott Mattera’s Bulldogs return every key piece from last year’s squad that went 17-14 overall, producing the program’s first winning record since 2007. Concordia appears poised to take another step in a positive direction behind the likes of powerful outside hitters Paige Getz and Claire White, blossoming setter Alayna Kavanaugh and athletic middles Mariah Schamp and Taylor Workman. Mattera also believes a few freshmen have a chance to make an impact.

In addition, Mattera sees this as a big year for the Bulldogs to show the program’s progress with more improvement on the court.

“Last year was a solid step in the right direction – first .500 season in a little while but we haven’t gotten over the hump yet,” Mattera said. “That’s where we see this going. I’d say the progress we’re making in terms of reputation, in terms of the pool that we’re swimming in in recruiting, the growth in our camps – things like that speak to a program on the rise. That’s a credit to the ladies here and the support system we have in place.”

After taking on Faith Baptist on Tuesday, the Bulldogs will get set to depart from Seward at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday as they begin a journey destined for Irvine, Calif. Concordia will play two matches each on Friday and Saturday at the Asics/Wyndham Labor Day Tournament hosted by Concordia University, Irvine. The weekend slate includes matches against two teams rated in the top 25 of the NAIA preseason coaches’ poll – No. 2 Concordia-Irvine and No. 22 Vanguard University (Calif.).