Bulldog Weekly Report (March 20)

By Jacob Knabel on Mar. 20, 2018 in Athletic Announcements

Bulldog Athletic Association Athletes of the Week

Female: Philly Lammers, Basketball

Lammers, an Omaha native, led the Bulldogs to the national championship game while averaging 18.0 points and 9.8 rebounds during the team’s five-game run at the national tournament. Lammers was named an NAIA first team All-American and a CoSIDA Academic All-American.

Male: Wade Council, Baseball

Council, who hails from Colorado Springs, Colo., swept GPAC player and pitcher of the week awards after helping Concordia to a 3-1 week on the road. Council followed a two-homer performance at College of the Ozarks by tossing the fifth shutout of his career.

Previous athletes of the week
March 13 – Cody Williams (track & field) / Samantha Liermann (track & field)
February Athletes of the Month: Deandre Chery (wrestling) / Philly Lammers (basketball)
Feb. 27 – Nick Little (baseball) / Philly Lammers (basketball)
Feb. 20 – Deandre Chery (wrestling) / Samantha Liermann (track & field)
Feb. 13 – Jerry Stepps III (wrestling) / McKenzie Gravo (track & field)
Feb. 6 – Michael Duffy (wrestling) / Colby Duvel (basketball)
January Athletes of the Month: Kyle Pierce (basketball) / Dani Hoppes (basketball)
Jan. 30 – Kyle Pierce (basketball) / Anna Baack (track & field)
Jan. 23 – Jacob Cornelio (track & field) / Dani Hoppes (basketball)
Jan. 16 – Josiah McAllister (track & field) / Brenleigh Daum (basketball)
Jan. 9 – Jared Woods (wrestling) / Philly Lammers (basketball)
December Athletes of the Month: Cordell Gillingham (basketball) / Philly Lammers (basketball)
Dec. 12 – Cordell Gillingham (basketball) / Taylor Cockerill (basketball)
Dec. 5 – Brevin Sloup (basketball) / Sydney Feller (basketball)
November Athletes of the Month: Tarence Roby (football) / Quinn Wragge (basketball)
Nov. 28 – Jake Hornick (basketball) / Quinn Wragge (basketball)
Nov. 14 – Cameron Devers (wrestling) / Jeannelle Condame (soccer)
Nov. 7 – Tarence Roby (football) / Emily Deschaine (cross country)
October Athletes of the Month: Ryan Durdon (football) / Lindsey Carley (soccer)
Oct. 31 – Ryan Durdon (football) / Kaitlyn Radebaugh (soccer)
Oct. 24 – Marcelo Hernandez (soccer) / Lindsey Carley (soccer)
Oct. 17 – Carlos Ferrer (soccer) and Grady Koch (football) / Sami Birmingham (soccer)
Oct. 10 – Micah Lehenbauer (soccer) / Kaitlyn Radebaugh (soccer)
Oct. 3 – Micah Lehenbauer (soccer) / Maria Deeter (soccer)
September Athletes of the Month: Tarence Roby (football) / Lindsey Carley (soccer)
Sept. 26 – Kordell Glause (football) / Emily Deschaine (cross country)
Sept. 19 – Lewis Rathbone (soccer) / Victoria Cera (soccer)
Sept. 12 – Tarence Roby (football) / Murphy Sears (golf)
Sept. 5 – Jack Bennett (soccer) / Lindsey Carley (soccer)

News and notes:

Olson chosen by WBCA as NAIA National Coach of the Year: Just before last week’s national championship game, the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association announced Drew Olson as the 2018 United States Marine Corps/WBCA NAIA National Coach of the Year. It’s the first national award for Olson, who has guided the Bulldog women’s basketball program to 318 wins over his 12 seasons as head coach. He is also a three-time GPAC coach of the year. For more details on the honor, click HERE.

Lammers, Wragge named All-Americans: Philly Lammers and Quinn Wragge found themselves listed on NAIA Division II women’s basketball All-America teams released last week by the NAIA. Lammers became the seventh player in program history to earn first team accolades. Meanwhile, Wragge landed on the third team. Additionally, Lammers was named a CoSIDA Academic All-American last week. For more on Concordia’s All-America selections, click HERE.

Winter Scholar-Athletes unveiled: The NAIA has released all Scholar-Athlete honorees for winter sports. From the sports of men’s basketball, women’s basketball, cheer, dance and wrestling, Bulldogs combined for 16 Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athlete accolades. Concordia University has racked up 1,333 Scholar-Athlete honors in school history.

Bulldog Coaches Show airs every Thursday at 5:30 p.m. CT: The Bulldog Coaches Show is underway in its third 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 2017-18 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 again calling volleyball action.

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.

 

Women’s Basketball

  • The Bulldogs extended their 2017-18 season as long as possible by reaching last week’s national championship game. Concordia completed the campaign at 36-2 overall, equaling the 2002-03 squad for the most wins in a single season in program history. During the national tournament run, the Bulldogs defeated Stillman (Ala.), No. 15 Taylor (Ind.), No. 8 Jamestown (N.D.) and No. 11 Northwestern before the title game loss to No. 7 Dakota Wesleyan. For more information on Concordia women’s basketball, click HERE.
  • The only thing missing from 12th-year head coach Drew Olson’s résumé is a national championship. He added another bullet point last week when the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association selected him as the 2018 NAIA National Coach of the Year. Olson is a four-time WBCA regional coach of the year, a three-time GPAC coach of the year and was named the Nebraska small college coach of the year by the Lincoln Journal Star and Omaha World-Herald in 2015. With a record of 318-93 at Concordia, Olson is the winningest coach in program history.
  • The postseason honors have been streaming in for star sophomore Philly Lammers, named the seventh first team All-American in program history last week. Also last week, Lammers collected CoSIDA Academic All-America and all-national tournament first team recognition. The Millard West High School product elevated her game at the national tournament, averaging 18.0 points and 9.8 rebounds during the five-game run. Lammers is the only player in program history to be named either a first or second team All-American in each of her first two collegiate seasons.
  • An honorable mention All-American as a sophomore last season, Quinn Wragge moved up to the first team this winter while averaging 13.0 points and 5.3 rebounds over 37 games. Wragge figures to make a case as one of the top players in program history by the time her career winds down. The Crofton, Neb., native will enter her final season with all-time program rankings of 12th in scoring (1,380) and 14th in rebounding (639).
  • Wragge was one of five Bulldogs to eclipse 1,000 career points this season. She was joined in the club by Mary Janovich (1,159), Dani Hoppes (1,148), Brenleigh Daum (1,014) and Lammers (1,014). Both Daum and Lammers reached the milestone during the national tournament in Sioux City. Lammers got there in the second half of the national championship game. There have been 28 players in program history to tally 1,000 points. Lammers is on track to make a run at the all-time scoring title, which is held by Bailey Morris (2,054).
  • Though Concordia fell short of its goal of winning the national title, it’s not hard to make the case that it had the best season of any NAIA women’s basketball team. The Bulldogs topped all programs with 36 wins with 17 of them coming over teams that were ranked in the final top 25 national poll. Dakota Wesleyan has the right to claim the title, but it finished three games behind Concordia in the GPAC standings, was the conference tournament runner up and went 1-3 in games against the Bulldogs. Concordia is ranked No. 1 in Massey Ratings.
  • The senior class will be missed. It includes Sydney Feller, Daum, Hoppes and Janovich. As mentioned, three of the four scored more than 1,000 career points apiece. Daum and Janovich were varsity contributors all four years, playing for teams that went a combined 127-18 and reached at least the national semifinal round in three of those seasons. That is the winningest four-year stretch in program history. Previously, the 2001-05 teams held the record with 123 combined victories.
  • The program just finished its 17th all-time appearance at the national tournament. The Bulldogs are now 29-17 on the national stage with six semifinal advancements, including two championship game appearances. Much of that success has come with Olson at the helm. He’s missed the national tournament only twice during his 12 seasons as head coach. His first trip to the semifinals occurred in 2012. He took the program to the national championship game for the first time ever in 2015. Olson and Todd Voss (2003 and 2005) are the only coaches in school history to guide teams to the national semifinals.

Softball

  • It was a busy beginning to the week and a light ending for the Bulldogs who split doubleheaders with nonconference foes University of Saint Mary (March 13) and Nebraska Wesleyan (March 14). Concordia was scheduled to open up GPAC play at Northwestern on March 17, but inclement weather forced the twin bill to be postponed. Fifth-year head coach Todd LaVelle’s squad will head into conference play this week at 11-9 overall. For more information on Bulldog softball, click HERE.
  • Concordia topped Saint Mary in game one, 11-5, while rapping out nine hits. Leadoff hitter Leah Kalkwarf continued her solid early season run by going 2-for-3 with a run and four RBIs. Eight Bulldogs collected at least one hit and Tricia Tripp drove in a pair of runs. Concordia then fell in the second game despite holding a 5-1 lead after three innings. Kalkwarf recorded another two hits and Hhana Haro went 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI.
  • Freshman Grace Bernhardt earned credit as the winning pitcher in both of last week’s victories. In her two outings, the St. Charles, Mo., native threw a combined 13.1 innings while allowing 10 runs on 18 hits and six walks. She also struck out 10 hitters. Bernhardt is 6-4 with a 6.68 ERA over a team high 50.1 innings in the circle. LaVelle has stuck primarily with three pitchers: Bernhardt, Baily Clear and Brittany Woolridge.
  • After being blanked 8-0 in game one at Nebraska Wesleyan, the Bulldogs rebounded with an 8-5 win in game two. The offense caught fire behind shortstop Jamie Lefebure (3-for-4, run, RBI) and Mackinsey Schmidt (2-for-3, run, RBI, triple), both products of Crete High School. Just a freshman, Schmidt has started 16 of 20 games and is batting .348 with three doubles and a triple this season.
  • LaVelle is hoping all the pieces will come together in conference play. Woolridge missed the six games prior to the Tucson Invitational and red hot Elanna Osthoff has been sidelined due to an injury suffered in Tucson. Osthoff scalded the ball in Arizona, going 15-for-21 (.714) with four doubles, a triple, a home run, four runs and 12 RBIs over her eight games played in the desert. She leads the team this season with a .538 batting average (21-for-39).
  • Osthoff has been a leader for a potent offense that is averaging 7.4 runs per game. There are many gaudy batting averages in the lineup that includes Osthoff (.538), Haro (.514), Kalkwarf (.424), Tori Homolka (.375) and Schmidt (.348). The Bulldogs sport national rankings of 10th in hits per game (10.7), 13th in runs per game, 16th in batting average (.352) and 20th in slugging percentage (.507).
  • The first conference and national polls of the regular season were released last week (March 13) by the NAIA. Picked second in the GPAC in the preseason, Concordia dropped back one spot to third in the latest conference rating. The Bulldogs are no longer receiving votes in the national poll. Out of the GPAC, Morningside is ranked 22nd and Northwestern is listed among others receiving votes.
  • Weather permitting, the Bulldogs will play two doubleheaders this week against GPAC opponents. They are getting set to play two at Doane (16-10) today (March 20) at 3 p.m. CT. Then on Saturday, Concordia is slated to host Briar Cliff (3-12) at 1 p.m. In the GPAC ratings, Doane is listed at No. 4 and Briar Cliff comes in at No. 11.

Baseball

  • Concordia enjoyed a solid week on the road during a week that included a blowout win at Kansas Wesleyan University, 16-3, and a weekend series victory at College of the Ozarks. After a 7-4 loss at Ozarks on March 17, the Bulldogs finished the series with wins by scores of 9-4 and 10-0. Of the team’s 19 games to begin 2018, eight have been played at the opponents’ home park and 11 were played at the Tucson Invitational. Fourth-year head coach Ryan Dupic’s squad owns a 12-7 overall mark. For more on Concordia baseball, click HERE.
  • The rout of the Bobcats on Sunday gave Dupic his 100th career head coaching win. Before obtaining his first head coaching gig, Dupic spent seven seasons as an assistant coach at his alma mater, NCAA Division III Buena Vista University (Iowa). In less than three-and-a-half seasons, Dupic has transformed a program that won a total of 28 games during the 1990s and 156 during the 2000s. The Emmetsburg, Iowa, native is now 100-74 with a GPAC regular-season title since taking over prior to the 2015 season. Dupic was named the 2017 GPAC Coach of the Year.
  • Many of the program’s top position players in 2017 were seniors, including the likes of Jake Adams, Casey Berg, Jason Galeano and Christian Montero. Despite their departures, the Bulldogs haven’t missed a beat so far. They are leading the GPAC with an average of 8.0 runs per game after piling up 39 runs over four games last week. Nationally, Concordia ranks 20th in runs per game, 27th in slugging percentage (.482), 33rd in hits per game (9.9) and 41st in batting average (.315).
  • First/third baseman Kaleb Geiger will end his collegiate career this season as one of the most productive hitters in program history. Last week he moved to the top of the school’s all-time RBI list, surpassing Jarrod Pimentel’s (1999-02) previous standard of 140. Geiger’s RBI count now stands at 145 (23 this season). On the program’s career lists, Geiger also ranks No. 1 in doubles (44), first in putouts (828), fourth in home runs (17), fourth in runs scored (123), sixth in hits (168), seventh in walks (63) and 10th in games played (164).
  • Geiger connected for one of the team’s six home runs in the series at College of the Ozarks. Sophomore Wade Council went deep twice in the game two win on March 17. Junior Thomas Sautel also homered twice on the weekend and Dylan Jacob added one blast. With 16 home runs through 19 games, the Bulldogs are on a pace that would threaten the team single-season record of 38 home runs by the 2016 squad.
  • Council enjoyed a big week with the bat and with his arm. In the final game at Ozarks, Council tossed a seven-inning, three-hit shutout in which he did not issue a single free pass. It marked the fifth shutout of his career. The Colorado Springs native has also been impressive in the leadoff role. Last week he went 7-for-16 (.438) with five runs, two doubles, two home runs, six RBIs, three walks and two steals while slugging .938. Council is hitting .362 on the year.
  • Christian Meza has been a fixture in the middle of the lineup and has collected multi-hit games like trading cards. He leads the team with a .438 batting average (32-for-73). After three more multi-hit games last week, he now has 11 on the year. He has also recorded seven doubles, two home runs, 22 RBIs and sports an on-base percentage of .494 and slugging percentage of .616.
  • Nick Little has been stellar through his first four starts on the mound. He’s gone at least seven innings each time out while going the distance three times. In his appearance at College of the Ozarks, Little went all nine innings, allowing four runs (two earned) on eight hits and two walks. He struck out four. On the year, Little is 3-1 with a 1.74 ERA and 29 strikeouts over his 31 innings.
  • At long last, Concordia will make its first home appearances this week. The Bulldogs are scheduled to play five games at Plum Creek Park over the next five days. That stretch begins at 5 p.m. CT on Wednesday with one nine-inning game versus Kansas Wesleyan (17-14). Conference play will arrive this weekend with Concordia slated to host Mount Marty (12-6) at 1 p.m. on Saturday and then Morningside (7-8-1) at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

Tennis

  • Both teams have been idle since their stretch of playing four consecutive days (March 7-10) during the week of spring break. The Concordia men went 3-1 on the road trip while the women went 2-2. Fourth-year head coach Joel Reckewey’s teams carry identical 7-5 overall records into this week. For more on Bulldog tennis, click the following links: men | women.
  • Junior Thomas Greeff (named GPAC player of the week on March 14) starred at the top of the men’s lineup, going a perfect 4-0 in singles play on the spring break trip. His latest victory was a 6-2, 6-3 decision over Kerry Dunn of Friends. The Bulldogs took four of six singles matches and all three doubles contests while up against the Falcons. Reckewey used the same three doubles combos for all of last week’s matches: Jeremy Berryman and Luke Zoller at No. 1, Greeff and Conner Works at No. 2 and Gio De Moraes and Josh Miller at No. 3
  • Seven Bulldogs posted at least one win on the week of March 5. Berryman turned in three and Miller, Lauby and Zoller notched two apiece. Berryman and Zoller teamed up on a 4-0 doubles mark over spring break. They had to earn it on Saturday, eking out a 9-7 win over their counterparts from Friends. The duos of Greeff/Works and De Moraes/Miller picked up a trio of wins over the past four days.
  • Collectively, the Concordia men put together records of 15-9 in singles and 10-2 in doubles for the week. The Bulldogs dropped only two matches over the final two days of the trip. On the season, Concordia is an even .500 (36-36) through 12 matches. It has had more success in doubles, going 22-14. The Bulldogs are 10-2 this season at the No. 3 doubles spot. Greeff (7-5) and Zoller (7-5) are tied for the team lead in singles wins.
  • In the spring break capper (at Friends), the Concordia women won all three doubles matches and took care of all singles matches with the exception of the Nos. 3 and 5 positions. At No. 1, senior Annie Horn rebounded from a loss on Wednesday by winning her final three matches of the week. She defeated Friends’ Amanda Zavala, 6-1, 6-3, on March 10. Freshman Claudia Miranda Viera equaled Horn with three singles victories on the week.
  • The doubles partners of Horn and Kirsten Wagner and Miranda Viera and Katelinn Wurm both claimed three wins during spring break. In singles play, six different Bulldogs collected at least one win over the past four days. Wurm and Amanda VonSeggern captured two apiece.
  • Collectively, the Concordia women posted records of 12-12 in singles and 7-5 in doubles for the week. The Bulldogs won all but three doubles matches in their wins over Hesston and Friends. On the season, Concordia has gone 36-36 in singles matches and 21-15 in doubles action. The Bulldogs are 9-3 at No. 6 singles and 9-3 at No. 3 doubles. Horn (6-5) and Wurm share the team lead for most singles wins.
  • Both teams return to competition this week. They are scheduled to host Bethany College (Kan.) at 12 p.m. CT on Saturday. Conference play is set to begin April 4 for the women and April 5 for the women with trips to Doane on consecutive days.

Golf

  • The spring season is underway for the men’s program, which escaped the cold by spending spring break in Opelika, Ala., home to Grand National Golf Club. The Bulldogs turned in a two-day score of 331-307–638 while placing ninth out of 12 teams at the Spring Break Invitational (March 8-9) hosted by Lawrence Tech (Mich.). Concordia arrived in Alabama early in the week in preparation for the event. For more on Bulldog golf, click the following links: men | women.
  • Head coach Brett Muller’s programs enter the spring with conference standings of fourth on the men’s side and ninth on the women’s side. Their respective two-round conference totals are 288-295–583 for the men and 383-376–759 for the women. The highest placing individuals are Nolan Zikas (70-73–143; T-5th) and Murphy Sears (85-86–171; 13th).
  • Muller traveled five Bulldogs to the Spring Break Invitational. All but one of the five improved their scores in round two. Senior Russell Otten turned in a team low of 80-74–154, tying him for 19th on the leaderboard of more than 70 golfers. He was followed by Nolan Zikas (81-74–155; T-24th), Kort Steele (85-76–161; T-44th), Tylar Samek (85-86–171; T-61st) and Tyler Ehresman (88-83–171; T-61st).
  • Zikas entered the event as owner of the team’s top 18-hole average. In nine fall rounds, Zikas averaged a score of 73.78. Otten was next in line at 76.78. Zikas, Otten, Samek, Steele and Ehresman have each participated in all of the team’s 11 rounds of action over the 2017-18 season.
  • As a team, the Concordia men averaged a score of 304.2 during nine rounds in the fall. Six of their first nine rounds resulted in scores of 300 or lower. They shot a school record tying 288 in the first round of the GPAC championships. The Bulldogs also turned in rounds of 293, 295 (twice) and 299. Their 331 on day one of the Spring Break Invitational was their second highest score all season.
  • The next event on the schedule is the Bulldog-Tiger Cup on Saturday when Concordia and Doane will go head-to-head at York Country Club. The women are set to open up their spring season with the College of Saint Mary/Midland Invite April 5-6. The GPAC spring championships are set for April 23-24 on the men’s side and April 27-28 on the women’s side.