White shines in defeat at No. 18 Dordt
SIOUX CENTER, Iowa – Concordia sophomore Claire White put together a complete individual performance despite a 25-16, 25-20, 25-23, loss at No. 18 Dordt on Saturday evening. The loss completed a challenging week on the road inside the conference for head coach Scott Mattera’s Bulldogs, who now sit at 15-12 overall and 4-10 in the GPAC.
“Dordt played with great maturity and survived a scare in game three,” Mattera said. “Our third game was the toughest minded volleyball we've played all year. Coming off a hard night at Briar Cliff and losing the first two tonight, I am so proud of how we pushed them to the limit in that third game.”
White came through with perhaps her best performance in conference play this season. She hit .333 while piling up a match high 11 kills to go with her team best 10 digs.
“Claire was unstoppable on the outside,” Mattera said. “She was really in rhythm and made great decisions about when to go big and when to play smart.”
Saturday’s match marked the ninth time this season that White, a native of Exeter, Neb., has reached double figures in both kills and digs.
In addition, freshman outside hitter Paige Getz racked up 10 kills. She has posted 10 or more kills in seven of the last nine matches.
Freshman Alayna Kavanaugh dished out 32 assists and Mariah Schamp chipped in eight kills in the middle.
Dordt, which outhit Concordia .319 to .221, got nine kills apiece from Lindsay Floen and Jenna Horstman. Floen also blocked four attacks in the middle.
Concordia has now played five ranked opponents on the season. The Bulldogs are now 9-7 away from Walz Arena.
“The goal now is to take the level of fight we showed in the third and make that who we are all the time, not just when our backs are against the wall,” Mattera said.
The Bulldogs return home on Tuesday when they host College of Saint Mary (17-14) at 7 p.m. The match has been billed as ‘Think Pink Night,’ which serves as the culmination of Concordia volleyball’s collaboration with the Pink Bandannas organization to support women struggling with breast cancer.
