Bulldog Weekly Report (Sept. 13, 2016)

By Jacob Knabel on Sep. 13, 2016 in Athletic Announcements

Bulldog Athletic Association Athletes of the Week

Garcia, a native of Brighton, Colo., put together a big week that saw her average 6.5 digs per set as Concordia won three of four matches. The junior defensive specialist garnered GPAC defensive player of the week accolades for the second-straight week. On Sept. 10 she went past 1,000 digs for her career.

Male: Tarence Roby, Football / Nolan Zikas, Golf

Roby, who hails from Rockford, Ill., totaled 179 kickoff return yards as part of Concordia’s 34-23 win at Ottawa University. Roby took the opening kickoff 91 yards for a touchdown (fourth career) and broke up two passes from his cornerback spot. The Bulldogs are off to a 2-0 start.

Zikas, a sophomore from La Vista, Neb., turned in a two-round score of 73-70–143 at last week’s Siouxland Invitational, allowing him to place second among 83 golfers in the event. His performance helped the Bulldogs to a fourth-place team finish. Zikas was an all-conference performer as a freshman.

News and notes:

Football reunion celebration on tap for this weekend: A grand football reunion celebration more than a year in the making will take place this Friday and Saturday in conjunction with Concordia’s home game versus Northwestern College. Highlights of the weekend include the celebration banquet Friday night, the game on Saturday (1 p.m.) and a dinner and social gathering Saturday night. For additional information on the football reunion, click HERE.

Cross country ready for new era: Both cross country teams took part in the annual Blue-White alumni run on the Concordia trail on Sept. 10. The Bulldogs will officially open up their seasons this Saturday at the Hastings College Bronco Invite. The meet is set to get underway at 10 a.m. Last week we detailed the transition taking place under first-year head coach Matt Beisel. Check out that feature HERE. A season preview for Concordia cross country can be found HERE.

Baseball to host home run derby Friday, Sept. 23: The Concordia baseball program will host a home run derby at 5 p.m. at Plum Creek Park on Friday, Sept. 23. The public is encouraged to participate by showing up the day of the event. It will cost $10 for 10 swings. There will also be a radar gun contest in which competitors can get five throws for $5. For the event flyer, click HERE.

Broadcaster magazine features 2016 grad Kim Wood: The summer edition of Concordia University’s Broadcaster publication included a piece on 2016 graduate Kim Wood, a 12-time GPAC champion, seven-time All-American and member of the Bulldog women’s outdoor track and field team that captured the 2016 NAIA national title. Read more about Wood HERE.

Baseball/softball teams unveil 2017 schedules: 2017 slates for Concordia’s baseball and softball programs were released last week. The 2017 campaign will mark the fourth season for head softball coach Todd LaVelle and the third year for head baseball coach Ryan Dupic.
--View 2017 schedules: Baseball | Softball

Bulldog Coaches Show airs every Thursday at 6 p.m. CT: The Bulldog Coaches Show is already underway in its second year of existence. The show airs live for a half hour every Thursday beginning at 6 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 TuneIn Radio app and searching “Max Country.” Throughout the 2016-17 season, Bulldog football, men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball contests will be aired live on Max Country.

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 Soccer

The winning streak carries on for Concordia, which finished its stretch of four-straight home games with a perfect 4-0 run. Last week the Bulldogs trounced Grace University, 5-0, and then came from behind to hand Friends University (Kan.) its first loss of 2016 via a 2-1 double overtime decision. Those results put fourth-year head coach Greg Henson’s squad at 4-1-1 overall. Concordia’s .750 winning percentage is best among all GPAC squads. For more information on Bulldog women’s soccer, click HERE.
Concordia is in the midst of a dominant run of success when playing inside Bulldog Stadium. The Bulldogs went 2-5 at home in 2012, but since Henson has roamed the sidelines, they are a combined 26-8-1 at Bulldog Stadium. In home games over recent seasons, Concordia went 7-4 in 2013, 8-1-1 in 2014, 7-3 in 2015 and is off to a 4-0 start in 2016.
It was a big offensive week for freshman Sami Birmingham, who totaled two goals versus Grace and then came through with the equalizer against Friends. Earlier in the win over Friends, the native of Johnston, Iowa, had to leave the field after a collision with the Falcon goalkeeper. The fifth goal of her rookie season puts her in a tie for third on the GPAC leaderboard – just one goal behind the league’s co-goal leaders. Birmingham already has recorded two multi-goal outings.
Concordia’s attempt at a fourth-straight shutout win was thwarted when Kaylee Getzke of Friends scored on a free kick in the seventh minute of the Sept. 10 match. The Bulldogs went more than 320 minutes between goals allowed. They’ve now surrendered five goals this season, one year removed from topping the GPAC in fewest goals allowed per game (0.76). The 2015 squad broke the school record for fewest goals allowed in a season (16).
Concordia is now 1-0-1 this season in overtime contests. It also rallied from a 2-0 deficit at MidAmerica Nazarene University (Kan.) to salvage a 2-2 double overtime draw. The 2014 Bulldog team that won the GPAC tournament grew accustomed to extra sessions. That team went 2-0-4 in overtime games with five of the six overtime contests coming over a six-game stretch in October. Under Henson, Concordia is 4-2-8 in overtime games.
Deeter is on a nice goal-scoring run of her own. She headed in the game winner to knock off Friends giving her three goals in five games played this season. Six of her nine career goals have come over her last eight games. The Seward native and Lincoln Lutheran High School product has made 26 starts since beginning her Bulldog career last fall.
Concordia’s current five-game streak without a loss marks the third longest unbeaten run under Henson. This is the third-straight season that the Bulldogs have put together a stretch of five or more games in a row without a loss. Last year’s team went unbeaten for six-consecutive outings before falling in the GPAC tournament championship game. The 2014 edition set a new program standard by running through 13-straight games (9-0-4) without a defeat.
Chrissy Lind was named GPAC defensive player of the week on Sept. 6, marking the sixth such award in the career of the Colorado Springs native. Lind garnered the latest honor on the heels of Concordia’s shutout wins over York College and Graceland University (Iowa). Lind has extended her program record number of career shutouts to 21. Her 10 shutouts in 2014 stand as a single-season school goalkeeper standard.
The Bulldogs will aim for their first road victory of the season on Wednesday (5 p.m. kickoff) when they travel to take on Bellevue University (2-2), which received votes in the NAIA preseason coaches’ poll. Concordia will return home on Saturday to host Bethany College (2-2) for a 5:30 p.m. start. Last season’s meeting between the Bulldogs and Bruins marked the first time Bulldog Stadium has ever hosted a ranked Concordia women’s soccer squad against a ranked opponent. The Bulldogs defeated Bellevue, 2-1.

Men’s Soccer

It was another tough week for opposing offensive attacks as the Bulldogs played 290 minutes of soccer with just three combined goals. The results were encouraging for Concordia, which defeated Bethel College (Kan.), 2-0 (Sept. 5), settled for a 0-0 double overtime draw with No. 24 Lyon College (Ark.) (Sept. 9) and eked out a 1-0 victory over Georgia Gwinnett College (Sept. 10), a team receiving votes in the NAIA preseason coaches’ poll. Ninth-year head coach Jason Weides’ squad is on a three-game unbeaten run and now stands at 3-1-1 overall. For more information on Concordia men’s soccer, click HERE.
Most impressive has been the way Concordia has transitioned this season after essentially losing its entire backline to graduation following the 2015 GPAC tournament championship run. The departures included all-conference defenders Mark Campbell and Justin Lawrie. With some adjustments, such as moving Toby Down to defender, Concordia has gotten results. The Bulldogs have allowed just a single goal through five games. Dating back to the 2015 GPAC quarterfinals, Concordia has shut out seven of its last nine opponents. The Bulldogs currently rank fifth among all NAIA soccer programs for fewest goals allowed per game (0.2).
The last goal Concordia allowed came during the 14th minute of the 1-0 loss to Graceland University (Iowa) on Sept. 3. Since then the Bulldogs have held their opponents off the scoreboard for 366-straight minutes. The defense has been so airtight that goalkeeper Mark Horsburgh was not needed for a single save in the shutout win over Georgia Gwinnett. However, Horsburgh did make two highlight-reel worthy saves to preserve the draw with Lyon.
Game-winning goals were produced last week by junior Lewis Rathbone (Bethel) and freshman Carlos Ferrer (Georgia Gwinnett). The goals have been widespread throughout the lineup with six different players having accounted for the team’s seven total goals this season. Ferrer became the first Bulldog to run his season goal count to greater than one. Concordia now owns a plus-six goal differential in 2016
Since beginning last season with a record of 7-6-1 through 14 games, the Bulldogs have lost just twice. Their record since Oct. 18, 2015, is a sparkling 7-2-3. During that stretch Concordia has outscored its opponents by a combined total of 23-8. That run includes a win over No. 19 Hastings last season and victories over two teams receiving votes at the time of the game.
Weides used 17 players as part of the victory over Georgia Gwinnett. That total was five short of a season high 22 players used throughout the 4-0 win over York College. Twenty-six different Bulldogs have seen action in at least one game on the year. Eleven of them have played in each of the first five contests.
The Bulldogs have outshot their opponents by a combined total of 70-39 this season. Three players have taken more than 10 shots on the year: Rathbone (13), Marcelo Hernandez (12) and Ferrer (11).
In more than 437 minutes of action, Horsburgh has been called upon for just 12 saves because of Concordia’s stingy defense. His current goals against average is .210, which ranks ninth best among all NAIA goalkeepers. That figure is a significant improvement from his 1.021 goals against average in 2015. Last season Horsburgh took over as the starting keeper and collected a school single-season record nine shutouts.
The Bulldogs are off from competition this entire week. They now look forward to their matchup on Monday, Sept. 19 with former conference rival Nebraska Wesleyan (2-0-2). The Prairie Wolves are in their first season as a member of the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, which is affiliated with NCAA Division III.

Football

Concordia passed its first road test of the season, shaking off a halftime deficit to claim a 34-23 victory at Ottawa University in the first-ever meeting between the two sides. In the process, the Bulldogs moved to 25-6 all-time versus opponents from the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (according to data that dates back to 1946). The Bulldogs also toppled KCAC member University of Saint Mary (Kan.), 23-7, in week one. Eighth-year head coach Vance Winter’s program is now 2-0 for the third time in the past four seasons. For more information on Concordia football, click HERE.
On Monday the Bulldogs made a return to the national rankings after having received votes in the preseason. Concordia checked in at No. 20 in the coaches’ poll. It marks the ninth time that the Bulldogs have garnered a top-25 ranking under Winter’s direction. Concordia jumped into the poll in back-to-back weeks last October before falling out. The 2013 squad enjoyed an extended stay in the top 25, spending six-straight weeks in the rankings while peaking at No. 14. The 2013 Bulldogs broke an extended ratings drought that dated back to 2002. The 2001 GPAC co-championship team was ranked in nine polls and finished at No. 7.
Junior Tarence Roby wasted little time in impacting his first game of 2016. He took the opening kickoff and raced 91 yards to the end zone. It marked the fourth career touchdown for the native of Rockford, Ill., who has found creative ways to find the end zone. He also had a 90-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in 2014 versus Northwestern, a 46-yard fumble return for a touchdown versus Midland in 2015 and a 12-yard touchdown return of a blocked punt versus Doane in 2015. Roby was a first-team all-conference selection in 2015, mostly for his role as a lockdown corner.
Michael Hedlund continues to pile up tackles at an impressive rate. The senior from O’Neill, Neb., padded his stat sheet last week with 18 tackles (1.5 for loss), two forced fumbles and an interception. Already this season, Hedlund has amassed 31 tackles and two interceptions. Over 21 career games, he has collected 185 tackles and eight interceptions. Hedlund appears on his way to moving up from the second team all-conference accolades he earned as a junior in 2015. He currently ranks second among all NAIA players in tackles per game.
Receiver Jared Garcia continues to creep closer the program’s all-time record for receiving touchdowns. The junior from Pearland, Texas, pushed his total to 22 with a 15-yard scoring grab in the third quarter of the win at Ottawa. The school record for receiving touchdowns is currently held by Concordia Athletic Hall of Fame tight end Ross Wurdeman, who reeled in 24 touchdown passes. Garcia already owns the program record for touchdown snags in a single season (11 in 2014).
Questions about the kicking game have been cleared up over the first two games. Senior Jose Garcia has been perfect so far – 2-for-2 on field goals and 7-for-7 on extra points. In addition, All-American defensive end Trey Barnes had produced an average of 39.2 yards on 15 punt attempts. In the win at Ottawa, Garcia made field goals from 34 and 28 yards out to help put the game away.
Winter rotated quarterbacks Riley Wiltfong and TJ Austin evenly this past Saturday and got contributions from both. Wiltfong recorded his first two touchdown tosses of the season and Austin produced the longest play from scrimmage on the night – a 61-yard touchdown run that put Concordia in front, 21-17, in the third quarter. The quarterback duo has combined to throw for 321 yards and run for another 110 yards through two games.
Kiyoshi Brey entered last week’s game with two career catches for 13 yards. He emerged at Ottawa with his first career touchdown, catching a 36-yard strike from Wiltfong early in the second quarter. He was one of six different Bulldogs to catch a pass. Jared Garcia led the way with five catches for 88 yards. Deshawn Eure also had a catch for 19 yards.
Concordia’s GPAC schedule opens up with three-straight perennial top-of-the-league contenders. The stretch begins with Northwestern (0-2) this Saturday with kickoff scheduled for 1 p.m. from Bulldog Stadium. The Red Raiders have won three straight in the series. The last four meetings have been decided by a combined 12 points. Northwestern is seeking its first win of 2016 after suffering losses to Sterling College, 28-21, and at No. 21 Dickinson State University, 42-13.

Volleyball

Head coach Scott Mattera’s program continued to stack wins while further distancing itself from a tough start to the 2016 season. Last week the Bulldogs went 3-1 and extended its win streak to seven prior to a four-set loss at the hands of No. 8 MidAmerica Nazarene University (Kan.) on Sept. 10. Prior to that defeat, Concordia claimed four-set victories over Benedictine College (Kan.), Missouri Valley College and the University of Montana Western. Mattera’s squad now stands at 8-7 overall. For more information on the Bulldog volleyball program, click HERE.
The seven-match win streak is the longest under Mattera and the longest since the 2007 squad captured eight-straight victories between Oct. 10 and Oct. 19. The 2015 national qualifying team started 6-0 and later put together a run of five-consecutive wins. There have also been two other streaks of five wins in a row during Mattera’s tenure.
It was a big week for Concordia’s hitters on both ends of the net. Seniors Paige Getz (outside hitter) and Tiegen Skains (right side) combined for 104 kills over 16 sets played last week. Getz sizzled with respective hitting percentages of .310, .185, .382 and .268 during last week’s action. Skains had similar success, posting hitting percentages of .294, .323, .290 and .300, respectively, during the same matches.
Both Getz and Skains are producing at career best levels. Getz is averaging 3.22 kills per set (career high .220 hitting percentage) and ranks 38th among all NAIA players in total kills (161). She currently ranks sixth on the program’s all-time kills list with 1,117 over 402 career sets played. Meanwhile, Skains is up to 676 career kills. She’s averaging 2.70 kills per game while hitting .205.
Getz and Skains are primary reasons why Concordia ranks as one of the top attacking teams in the nation. Among all 214 NAIA volleyball programs, the Bulldogs rank 21st in kills per game (13.2), 23rd in total kills (661) and 37th in hitting percentage (.222). Concordia is 5-0 when it hits better than .250. It’s best hitting percentage in a single match this season was .438 versus York College on Sept. 3.
Junior Jocelyn Garcia, named GPAC defensive player of the week on Sept. 6, has been tracking down attacks at an elite rate. Last week she averaged 6.5 digs per set and moved past 1,000 digs for her career. Among all NAIA players, she currently ranks 11th in total digs (269) and 25th in digs per set (5.4). That average is nearly a full dig per set better than her rate as a sophomore when she was named first team all-conference. She’s also averaging 5.1 receptions per game.
Another first team all-conference honoree in 2015, senior Alayna Kavanaugh has maintained a spot among the most prolific setters in the nation. She’s averaging 10.6 assists per set (16th in the NAIA) while totaling the fourth most assists (531) of any player in the nation. Kavanaugh is on track to join Stacy Stuckenschmidt as the only player in program history to dish out more than 1,000 assists three separate seasons.
While Concordia is 0-4 so far against nationally-ranked teams, it will have plenty more opportunities for signature wins. According to the NAIA coaches’ poll released last week, the Bulldogs have nine matches remaining versus top-25 teams. Concordia will get another shot at top-ranked Midland on Oct. 12 when the Warriors visit Walz Arena.
Conference play heats up this week for the Bulldogs, who return home to host College of Saint Mary (5-3, 1-1 GPAC) at 7 p.m. on Wednesday and Morningside (9-2, 1-1 GPAC) at 5 p.m. on Saturday. The Bulldogs are 32-8 in home matches since Oct. 8, 2013. Concordia is 5-1 so far this season when playing inside Walz Arena.

Golf

The 2016 fall season continued last week for Bulldog men’s golf, which improved significantly from its season-opening outing at the Mount Marty Fall Invite. Concordia’s first grouping placed fourth out of 17 teams at last week’s Siouxland Invitational (Sept. 8-9), co-hosted by Dordt and Northwestern. Led by sophomore Nolan Zikas, the Bulldogs carded a two-day total of 295-294–589 during its stay in western Iowa. Meanwhile, Amy Ahlers and the Concordia women have not competed since the Mount Marty Invite. For more information on Bulldog golf: MEN | WOMEN.
The Concordia men’s scores of 294 and 295 at the Siouxland Invite marked the second and third best single-round scores in the history of the program. The school standard for 18 holes remains the 291 team score posted on April 19, 2016, at the Briar Cliff Mini-Tour Stop. The Bulldogs have carded five scores below 300 since September 2015. Last year’s squad averaged 310.27 per round while the current team owns a season average of 302.0.
Zikas, a native of La Vista, Neb., went low at the Siouxland Invite with a two-round total of 73-70–143. He tied for second among the field of 83 golfers at the event. He was five strokes off of tournament medalist Justin Kraft (69-69–138). Zikas now has four career tournament top-five finishes, including wins at both GPAC qualifiers this past spring. Zikas owns a career single-round average of 77.1.
Concordia showed off solid depth at the Siouxland Invitational. Of the nine golfers who competed, seven turned in scores in the 70s on both days of the event. Junior Russell Otten followed Zikas with a 71-75–146, good for a tie for seventh place. The rest of the Bulldog top five in the first grouping included freshman Tylar Samek (77-72–149) and seniors Reid Wiebe (74-77–151) and Jared Knoepfel (78-77–155). Freshman Alec Hanson topped Concordia’s second grouping (76-76–152).
Through the season’s first four rounds of action, it’s a tight race for lowest season average among Bulldog men’s players. Otten and Samek own identical averages of 75.25 atop the Concordia leaderboard. Three others are also averaging in the 70s: Wiebe (76.25), Zikas (76.75) and Knoepfel (78.75).
Both Ahlers and freshman Murphy Sears turned in top-10 finishes at the opening meet of the season for Bulldog women’s golf. Ahlers (85.0) and Sears (85.5) are the team leaders in terms of lowest season average.
This week the women return to action at the Lila Frommelt Invite hosted by Briar Cliff. It will take place Friday and Saturday at Two River Golf Club in Dakota Dunes, S.D. Head coach Brett Muller’s men’s team is scheduled to resume the season Sept. 20-21 at the Blue River Classic, co-hosted by Concordia and Doane.