Four seasons of college volleyball are in the books for Bree Burtwistle and Camryn Opfer, but they aren't ready to let go. The two All-Americans will return in 2023 in pursuit of a GPAC championship Concordia Volleyball covets.
Plenty of movement took place on the all-time record books during the 2022 campaign. Concordia reached its highest ever position in the national poll while Camryn Opfer climbed into the top five all-time in kills and digs.
A group of six Bulldogs from Concordia Volleyball were recognized as 2022 NAIA/NCAA D-III All-Midlands Team selections by the Omaha World-Herald. Camryn Opfer and Gabi Nordaker were named to the primary eight-person team.
It was another season of national prominence for Concordia Volleyball, which was led by a senior class that trusted the process throughout four years. The likes of Gabi Nordaker and Camryn Opfer helped lead the Bulldogs to a No. 4 national ranking.
Three Bulldogs garnered 2022 All-America status, as announced by the NAIA on Friday (Dec. 9). Both Gabi Nordaker and Camryn Opfer landed on the second team while Bree Burtwistle was named honorable mention.
As announced by the AVCA on Friday (Dec. 2), Angie Boldt has been named the NAIA West Central Region Assistant Coach of the Year while Gabi Nordaker, Camryn Opfer and Bree Burtwistle garnered all-region player accolades.
The fourth-ranked Bulldogs came up one win shy of advancing beyond national tournament pool play for the fourth year in a row. Concordia was held to .070 hitting by No. 13 Park and fell in four sets on Friday (Dec. 2).
A team full of experience on the national stage met the challenge of facing Hastings for a third time this season. Led by Gabi Nordaker (16 kills, four blocks), the Bulldogs defeated the Broncos in four sets in national tournament pool play.
A top program in the NAIA for what it has accomplished on the court, Concordia Volleyball also ranks as one of the best in the nation for what it achieves in the classroom. Eighteen Bulldogs have been recognized as 2022 NAIA Scholar-Athletes.
A record number of Academic All-District awards, as selected by College Sports Communicators, has rolled in for Concordia Volleyball. The honors have gone to Bree Burtwistle, Rebecca Gebhardt, Camryn Opfer and Carly Rodaway.
No matter the result, the Bulldogs stayed gritty throughout a 2024 season that upheld the program's lofty standards. The '24 Concordia team broke program records for winning percentage and GPAC wins in a season.
Five-straight trips to the final site of the NAIA National Championships has created a level of expectation that is embraced inside the Concordia huddle. The Bulldogs begin 2024 ranked No. 4 in the NAIA coaches' poll.
A native of Syracuse, Neb., Katie (Werner) Loveless dominated in two sports during her incredible Bulldog career. Accolades aside, Loveless remains impacted by the people she met during her Concordia experience.
The string of fifth-year stars for Bulldog Volleyball will continue as Gabi Nordaker returns this fall. The volleyball-crazed Nordaker could not pass up one more year of strengthening relationships with her teammates.
The 2024 'Kobe Year' will be about grit for a Concordia Volleyball team coming off one of the most successful seasons in program history. The Bulldogs began the reloading process this spring without a pair of All-Americans.
While the season ended abruptly, the 2023 Concordia Volleyball team achieved great heights in rising to No. 1 in the NAIA coaches' poll, setting a program record for win percentage and sharing the GPAC regular season title.
Whatever the end result, emotions will run high for a group of Bulldogs who have been instrumental in the most successful period in the history of Concordia Volleyball. It's time for one last final site experience for nine Bulldogs.
On the strength of a 13-0 start to the season, Concordia Volleyball has leveled up to the NAIA No. 1 national ranking. The Bulldogs have reached that lofty perch for the first time in the program's history.
Four-consecutive trips to the final site of the NAIA National Championships lead the Concordia Volleyball program into 2023, or the “Jordan Year,” as the team has dubbed it. Coach Boldt's Bulldogs were picked to finish second in the GPAC.
All-American Gabi Nordaker may have turned down Concordia after the initial offer, but she's learned to love life as a Bulldog. In three collegiate seasons, Nordaker has been a major reason why the program has reached great heights.