Bulldog Athletic Association Athletes of the Week
Female: Taylor Grove, Track & Field
Grove, a native of Billings, Mont., got the track and field season started at the Midland Half Marathon on Sunday when she broke the program record in the half marathon while qualifying for nationals. Grove will make her third national championships appearance in a row in the marathon. She also qualified for the cross country national championships this past fall.
Male: Tanner Shuck, Basketball
Shuck, who hails from Grand Island, Neb., put up a combined 48 points and went 10-for-20 from 3-point range during last week’s action. One of the nation’s top shooters, Shuck leads the team in scoring average (17.5 ppg) and is shooting 41.6 percent from beyond the arc.
Previous Athletes of the Week
Nov. 27 – Alberto Garcia (wrestling) / Taylor Grove (cross country) / Quinn Wragge (basketball)
Nov. 13 – Zac Walter (football) / Grace Barry (basketball)
Nov. 6 – Jack Bennett (soccer) / Tori Cera (soccer)
OCTOBER Athletes of the Month: Carlos Ferrer (soccer) / Maria Deeter (soccer)
Oct. 30 – Carlos Ferrer (soccer) / Taylor Cockerill (basketball)
Oct. 23 – Josiah McAllister (cross country) / Jenna Habegger (volleyball)
Oct. 16 – Carlos Ferrer (soccer) / Maria Deeter (soccer)
Oct. 9 – Kordell Glause (football) / Brynn Suddeth (soccer)
Oct. 2 – Zac Walter (football) / Maria Deeter (soccer)
SEPTEMBER Athletes of the Month: Ryan Durdon (football) / Emmie Noyd (volleyball)
Sept. 25 – Roger de la Villa (soccer) / Erin Lokke (shooting sports)
Sept. 18 – Lane Napier (football) / Emmie Noyd (volleyball)
Sept. 11 – Ryan Durdon (football) / Marissa Hoerman (volleyball)
Sept. 4 – JP Verissimo (soccer) / Lauren Martin (soccer)
Aug. 28 – Garrett Perry (soccer) / Jenna Habegger (volleyball)
News and notes:
Grove breaks school record, qualifies for nationals: Senior Taylor Grove and six of her teammates returned to action on Sunday at the Midland Half Marathon in Fremont, Neb. Grove highlighted the 13.1-mile race by clocking in at 1:25:04 for a school record and automatic national qualifying time. In addition, senior Evan Asche also qualified for the NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships. Grove will be making her third appearance in a row at the outdoor national championships. For more on the race, click HERE.
Deeter named CoSIDA Academic All-American: Senior Maria Deeter picked up yet another honor on Monday when College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) announced Deeter as a 2018 Google Cloud Academic All-America® Women's Soccer First Team selection. Deeter is the second Academic All-America in the history of the Concordia women’s soccer program. As a senior, Deeter has also earned first team all-conference and NAIA Scholar-Athlete accolades. For more on her latest honor, click HERE.
Wrapping up the fall: The fall seasons all came to an end during the month of November for Concordia athletics. A recap of the top moments and performers of the fall season can be read HERE. For a closer review of several specific sports, click the links below.
-Football
-Men’s Soccer
-Women’s Soccer
-Volleyball
Scholar-Athletes named for soccer and volleyball: The NAIA announced 2018 Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athletes for the sports of men’s soccer, women’s soccer and volleyball on Nov. 30. The result for Concordia was a combined 22 NAIA Scholar-Athletes from those sports. The volleyball program produced 10 scholar-athletes. Concordia athletics remains the NAIA’s all-time leader for number of scholar-athletes.
Bulldog Coaches Show airs every Thursday at 5:30 p.m. CT: The Bulldog Coaches Show is underway in its fourth year of existence. The show airs live for a half hour every Thursday beginning at 5:30 p.m. CT on KTMX-FM 104.9 Max Country. The weekly feature can also be heard live via 104.9 Max Country’s website or by downloading the Max Country app. Throughout the 2018-19 season, Bulldog football, men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball contests will be aired live on Max Country. Tyler Cavalli serves as the host of the coaches’ show as well as the play-by-play voice for football and basketball. Frank Greene is in his fourth season calling Concordia volleyball.
Concordia Sports Network: Live webcasts for most home varsity contests can be accessed by visiting http://www.cune.edu/csn at game time. Check team schedules/results pages for webcast dates. Scrimmages, exhibitions and junior varsity events are not broadcasted.
Men’s Basketball
- Conference play returned on Nov. 28 with second-ranked Morningside making a visit to Walz Arena. After falling behind 27-11 out of the gate, the Bulldogs got all the way back to within four points late in the contest before dropping a 77-70 decision to the Mustangs. Three days later, Concordia ventured outside of the GPAC and earned a 94-67 win over National Christian College Athletic Association member Nebraska Christian College. Sixth-year head coach Ben Limback’s squad is now 7-4 overall and 1-4 in conference action. For more information on Bulldog men’s basketball, click HERE.
- The threes have been raining in of late for Concordia, which went 14-for-31 (.452) from long range in the win over Nebraska Christian. The Bulldogs have shot 41 percent or better from beyond the arc in four-straight games. Nationally, Concordia ranks 21st in 3-point field goal percentage (.399) and 28th in 3-point field goals per game (9.8). The team’s season high for treys in a game was 16 versus Barclay College (Kan.) on Nov. 3.
- Tanner Shuck stars as the most prolific Bulldog shooter. The Grand Island, Neb., native has been on a tear of late, scoring 29, 22 and 26 points, respectively, over the past three games. Shuck isn’t afraid to pull the trigger. He nets an average of 3.36 triples per game (14th most among all NAIA Division II players). Compared to conference players, Shuck ranks third in 3-point field goals per game, 10th in scoring (17.6) and 10th in 3-point field goal percentage (.416). Shuck has run his career point total to 898.
- Shuck and point guard Brevin Sloup continue to be the team’s lone double-figure scorers, on average. Sloup also stayed hot from 3-point range. He went 5-for-10 on 3-point attempts last week while improving his season percentage to 39.1. No player in the program has seen their role increase more as compared to last season than Sloup, who ranks second to Shuck in minutes per game (30.9). Sloup is averaging 15.3 points, a huge leap from 3.8 as a freshman and 4.5 as a sophomore.
- There have been times when Limback has put four freshmen on the court together. Nine freshmen are included on the varsity roster. Among them, Crete native Carter Kent has played the most prominent role, averaging 8.8 points and 24.8 minutes per game (has started 10 of 11 games). Another rookie in Tanner Wubbels has been one of the team’s top reserves. Wubbels put up nine points and seven rebounds versus Nebraska Christian.
- Concordia has had no trouble outside of conference play. It is a perfect 6-0 against non-league opponents having claimed a pair of victories over squads that qualified for national tournaments in 2018. The average margin of victory in nonconference action has been 16.8 points. Arguably, the team’s most impressive win to date was its 77-71 triumph at Peru State College on Nov. 24. The Bobcats are currently 7-1 overall. The Bulldogs also own a win over Hastings, which jumped into the top 25 at No. 19 in last week’s coaches’ poll.
- From a statistical perspective, Concordia has improved markedly on the defensive end. The 2017-18 Bulldogs allowed 76.8 points per game and 44.6 percent shooting. So far this season, Concordia opponents are averaging 71.6 points and shooting 43.6 percent from the floor. Defense helped the Bulldogs get back into the game against Morningside, which slumped to 42.9 percent shooting in the second half after a hot start. Among GPAC teams, Concordia ranks second in scoring defense and fourth in field goal percentage defense.
- One reason for that defensive improvement has been the presence of Chuol Biel in the post. The transfer from McCook Community College swatted four shots against Morningside. He ranks 11th nationally with an average of 1.82 blocks per game. He has also contributed in other areas. He averages 7.5 points and 4.7 rebounds and has started 10 of the 11 games. Biel ranks fourth on the team in minutes per game (23.5).
- Concordia’s next three games will be against GPAC opponents. Next up is Wednesday’s commute to Doane (3-8, 0-5 GPAC) for an 8 p.m. CT tipoff inside the Haddix Center. Though the Tigers received votes nationally in the preseason, they are still in search of their first conference win. The Bulldogs will also host Mount Marty (3-8, 1-5 GPAC) at 4 p.m. on Saturday.
Women’s Basketball
- It was another fairly light week for the Bulldogs, who were upset at home by eighth-ranked Morningside. Top-ranked Concordia allowed an 11-point second half lead to slip away in what amounted to an 84-75 loss at the hands of the Mustangs on Nov. 28. The defeat snapped a 40-game home win streak. The unbeaten run has ended for 13th-year head coach Drew Olson’s squad, which is now 9-1 overall and 5-1 in conference play. For more information on Bulldog women’s basketball, click HERE.
- The loss to Morningside came four seasons after Concordia also snapped a long home win streak owned by the Mustangs. In the 2015 GPAC tournament championship game, the Bulldogs won in Sioux City to halt what had been a 39-game home win streak for Morningside (which went on to defeat Concordia in the national championship game that season). Prior to last week, Concordia’s most recent home loss came against Doane on Jan. 27, 2016. The Bulldogs went undefeated at home in both the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons.
- There are few weaknesses on this Concordia team, but one that has shown up so far is its outside shooting. The Bulldogs went 7-for-30 (.233) from beyond the arc against Morningside’s 2-3 zone defense. On the season, Concordia is shooting 28.0 percent on 3-point attempts. One encouraging development versus Morningside was the shooting of MacKenzie Helman, who broke out of a slump by pouring in four 3-point field goals.
- Quinn Wragge topped all players in last week’s clash with 18 points on 9-for-19 shooting from the floor. That total pushed Wragge to 1,515 career points, making her the 10th player in program history to eclipse the 1,500 mark. Next for Wragge to pass on the school’s all-time scoring list is Andrea Janssen (1,559). At her current average of 13.5 points per game, Wragge stands a strong chance of moving past Sarah Harrison (1,800) at No. 2 all-time. The school record remains 2,054 career points by Bailey Morris.
- The Morningside game marked a rare instance in which four Bulldogs played 30 or more minutes. Having won the first nine games each by margins of 13 points or more, Olson had the luxury of using the entire bench. With the close contest against Morningside, Grace Barry (33), Wragge (32), Taylor Cockerill (31) and Philly Lammers (30) all played at least 30 minutes. Barry dished out 11 assists, but had an off shooting game (3-for-13). Lammers (13 points, 11 rebounds) posted a double-double.
- Morningside’s ability to ‘only’ commit 21 turnovers was also a key to grabbing a win inside Walz. Concordia’s nine steals were a season low. Many foes crumble under the pressure supplied by the tenacious Bulldog defense, but the Mustangs were able to break it for a bevy of layups. In spite of the loss, Concordia ranks No. 1 nationally in steals per game (20.8) and turnover margin (+14.8). Every opponent to this point has turned it over at least 21 times.
- The Bulldogs will have to run the table in the regular season to match the conference win percentage of the 2016-17 and 2017-18 conference championship teams that both went 19-1 in GPAC regular-season play. Even with last week’s loss, Concordia is 43-3 in conference action since the start of the 2016-17 season. The GPAC slate bumps up to 22 games this season with the addition of Jamestown.
- The conference gauntlet may be tougher than it ever has been before, considering the latest national rankings. In the national coaches’ poll released last week, eight GPAC teams appeared in the top 25 and another one received votes. According to Massey Ratings, the conference is actually being underrated in the poll. Massey lists Dakota Wesleyan, Concordia, Northwestern and Morningside as the top four teams in NAIA Division II. Massey also ranks Hastings and Dordt among the top 10.
- The Bulldogs now get back to a more typical week with a pair of conference games coming up. Concordia will be at Doane (2-9, 0-6 GPAC) for a 6 p.m. CT tipoff on Wednesday. The Bulldogs will then host Mount Marty (4-5, 1-5 GPAC) at 2 p.m. on Saturday. The Lancers topped No. 20 Jamestown last week for their first GPAC victory of the season. Mount Marty assistant coach Logan Wagner served as a graduate assistant in 2017-18 for the Bulldog golf programs.
Wrestling
- A lengthy idle stretch in the schedule continued last week. Prior to the Thanksgiving break, Concordia had already banked a pair of GPAC dual wins after coming back to defeat 13th-ranked Midland, 21-17, in Fremont on Nov. 15. Two days later, 15 Bulldogs took to the mats at the University of Nebraska-Kearney Holiday Inn Open. To date, first-year head coach Levi Calhoun’s squad has competed in three tournaments and two duals. For more on Concordia wrestling, click HERE.
- New conference and national rankings were released on Nov. 20 by the NAIA. Deandre Chery (No. 7 at 174), Alberto Garcia (No. 9 at 133) and Josh Nelsen (No. 12 at 184) continue to represent the Bulldogs in the national ratings. Those three competitors were also among the 10 Concordia wrestlers to appear in the conference ratings, which lists the top six at each weight. In the GPAC rankings, Chery is No. 1 at 174 while Garcia and Michael Stann (285) are No. 2 at their respective weights. As a team, the Bulldogs remain listed in the “receiving votes” category.
- The Bulldogs are seeking a return to the top of the GPAC dual standings after placing fifth in 2017-18. Prior to last season, Concordia put together three conference championship seasons in a row. During that run, the Bulldogs went 21-0 while dominating their conference foes. Since the start of the 2014-15 campaign, Concordia is now 28-3 in GPAC duals. The defending GPAC champions from 2017-18 are Briar Cliff (dual) and Midland (tournament).
- Garcia stole the show at the UNK Open. He proved that his Concordia debut was worth the wait. The transfer from Palomar College went 4-0 in the process of winning the 133-pound title in the elite division of the UNK Open. Garcia defeated two NCAA Division II opponents and then two NCAA Division I foes during his run. In the championship bout, the native of Escondido, Calif., toppled Jevon Parrish of the University of Nebraska by decision, 13-7. Garcia was ranked 10th nationally in his weight class in the preseason despite having never wrestled at the NAIA level. He was named the GPAC Wrestler of the Week on Nov. 21.
- Chery has placed at each of the first three tournaments this season. He won the 174-pound championship at the Dan Harris Open prior to placing third at the Dakota Wesleyan Open and then fifth at the UNK Open. Chery’s two losses in Kearney both came against NCAA Division II opponents. Chery added a pin over Benjamin Krantz of Colorado School of Mines to push his season pin total to six. The native of Miami Gardens, Fla., is a returning national qualifier and defending 174-pound GPAC champion.
- Not only did Stann emerge from the dual at Midland as one of the heroes, he also enjoyed a 5-1 day at the UNK Open. Officially, Stann notched a fourth-place heavyweight finish, although he was unable to wrestle in the third-place match due to the rule that limits competitors to six matches in a day. Thanks to a 15-3 record, Stann is the team leader in victories. The native of Temecula, Calif., has helped solidify a spot in the lineup that was lacking depth last season after the graduation of national runner up Ceron Francisco.
- Concordia will return to action on Friday when it will make its first home appearance of the season. The opponent will be Benedictine College (Kan.). The pre-Christmas slate also includes the Doane University Open (Saturday) and the GPAC/Cascade Duals (Dec. 16). The next GPAC duals will take place Jan. 26 inside Walz Arena.