Bulldog Weekly Report (Sept. 20, 2016)

By Jacob Knabel on Sep. 20, 2016 in Athletic Announcements

Bulldog Athletic Association Athletes of the Week

Male: Trey Barnes, Football

Barnes, a Seward native, disrupted Northwestern’s offense with a pair of sacks and also enjoyed a stellar day at punter. He placed three of his six punts inside the Red Raider 20 in helping the 3-0 Bulldogs to a 9-7 victory. Barnes was named a second team All-American in 2015.

Female: Alayna Kavanaugh, Volleyball

A senior from Roca, Neb., Kavanaugh piled up 98 assists over two GPAC wins last week and was named the conference’s setter of the week. She ranks 11th nationally in terms of assists per game (10.8) and last week went over 4,000 assists for her career.

News and notes:

Folkerts snares major honor from NAIA: Senior Chandler Folkerts, already a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-American, garnered one of the highest honors given to a NAIA basketball player. Last week Folkerts was announced as the winner of the NAIA Emil S. Liston Award, which recognizes basketball student-athletes for academic and athletic excellence. Folkerts sports a cumulative GPA of 3.99 and is coming off a junior season that saw him average 19.6 points per game. For more on the Milford native, click 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.

Inside the new backline for men’s soccer: Despite the new faces and moving parts, the Concordia men’s soccer team has put together a backline that hasn’t taken a back seat to anyone thus far. Through five games, head coach Jason Weides’ Bulldogs have surrendered just a single goal. For more on one of the nation’s stingiest defensive teams, click HERE.

Why we celebrate Concordia football: This past weekend Concordia University celebrated more than 90 years of Bulldog football by hosting a one-of-a-kind, two-day reunion. All seven living Concordia head football coaches, past and present, were on hand. More than 300 registered guests flocked to campus. For more insight on the special nature of Concordia’s football program, click HERE.

For those who missed out on purchasing a copy of the book Cultivating Men of Faith and Character: The History of Concordia Nebraska Football, an online order form can be found HERE.

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.

Football

  • For the second time in four seasons, Concordia is off to a 3-0 start. The latest victory featured a combined 187 yards in penalties and no points over the final three quarters. The defensive slugfest ended with a 9-7 final score, snapping a three-game series losing streak versus Northwestern in the GPAC opener for both teams. Eighth-year head coach Vance Winter’s squad is one of five GPAC teams with unblemished records heading into week four of the season. For more information on Concordia football, click HERE.
  • In Winter’s eight seasons as head coach, the only other Bulldog squad to begin a campaign at 3-0 was the 2013 group that rattled off six-straight victories to begin the year. Led by quarterback Von Thomas, the 2013 team rose as high as No. 14 in the national coaches’ poll. After going unranked this preseason, the Bulldogs made a return to the top 25 last week, checking in at No. 20. Concordia moved up four spots in the poll released on Monday (Sept. 19). The most recent team to be ranked higher than 14th was the 2002 Bulldogs.
  • Patrick Daberkow, a 2003 Concordia grad, has coordinated top-five ranking national defenses in two of the past three seasons. The 2016 defense appears to have the pieces in place for another stellar year. The Bulldogs held Northwestern to just 217 yards of total offense. With an average of 277.7 yards allowed per game through three weeks, Concordia ranks No. 10 nationally. It also checks in at No. 9 on the NAIA leaderboard for fewest points allowed per game (12.3). The Bulldog defense sewed up last week’s win when Cory Evans intercepted a pass in the final minute.
  • Michael Hedlund continues to eat up ball carriers from his inside linebacker spot. The native of O’Neill, Neb., has collected 10 or more tackles in 10 of the last 11 games. A second team all-conference selection in 2015, Hedlund piled up a team high 105 tackles as a junior. The converted quarterback needs five more stops to reach 200 tackles for his career. He currently ranks second among all NAIA players with an average of 13.7 tackles per game. He’s also Concordia’s team leader with two interceptions.
  • Up front, 2015 second team All-American Trey Barnes has made life tough on opposing quarterbacks. Last week he sacked Northwestern’s Jonathan Kodama twice, giving him three sacks on the year. Barnes racked up 10 sacks as a junior in 2015. The Seward High School product has also become an important weapon as a punter. He’s averaging 39.4 yards on 21 punts – seven of which have been downed inside the opposition’s 20. He’s had four punts of at least 50 yards.
  • Junior receive Jared Garcia reached a career milestone versus Northwestern. His sixth catch of the day marked his 100th career reception. His day against the Red Raider secondary included two one-handed snags and a total of 78 receiving yards. The native of Pearland, Texas, remains two touchdown catches away from tying Ross Wurdeman for a program career record. Garcia has totaled 1,607 receiving yards and 22 touchdowns since arriving at Concordia in 2014.
  • The game-winning points last week came late in the first quarter on Jose Garcia’s 31-yard field goal. The senior from Ogallala, Neb., in his first season as the team’s placekicker, has been near perfect so far. He’s made all three field goal attempts and is 7-for-8 on extra points. His lone PAT attempt last week was blocked by Northwestern. Garcia’s first career field goal attempts came at Ottawa University (Kan.) on Sept. 10 as part of a 34-23 victory.
  • Concordia is still working on ironing out an offense that has featured both TJ Austin and Riley Wiltfong at quarterback. The duo has combined to complete 39 of 78 passes for 471 yards while sporting a touchdown-to-interception ratio of 4-to-3. Northwestern excelled at bottling up running back Bryce Collins, who ran 17 times for 49 yards last week. However, Collins has been a threat in the passing game. He caught three passes for 47 yards versus the Red Raiders.
  • Concordia hopes to get a monkey off its back this Saturday when renews its rivalry with No. 5 Doane (3-0, 1-0 GPAC) in a battle of undefeated teams. Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m. CT in Crete. The Tigers pummeled No. 14 Dakota Wesleyan, 61-34, last week and have not lost to the Bulldogs since 2005. The last two meetings have both ended with a 23-20 score in favor of Doane. Last year’s matchup went into overtime at Bulldog Stadium.

Volleyball

  • Concordia is riding a wave of nine wins over its last 10 matches following a 2-0 week inside the conference. The Bulldogs again protected Walz Arena, winning a snappy straight-sets contest over College of Saint Mary on Sept. 14 prior to pulling off a stunning five-set, come-from-behind win over Morningside three days later. Fifth-year head coach Scott Mattera’s squad is now 10-7 overall and 2-1 in GPAC play. For more information on the Bulldog volleyball program, click HERE.
  • Concordia is now 24-11 in conference action since the beginning of the 2014 season. The 2015 Bulldogs broke a program record for most league victories in a single season by going 12-4 during GPAC regular-season action. Under Mattera, Concordia has steadily improved. After GPAC records of 4-12 in 2012 and 5-11 in 2013, the Bulldogs made a big leap up to 10-6 in 2014. Concordia is aiming for its fourth-straight overall winning season. The program’s most recent four-year run of winning seasons occurred from 2004 to 2007 with a high-water mark of 24-11 in 2005.
  • The Morningside victory marked the first time this season that Concordia has gone to a fifth set. It turned into perhaps the most miraculous comeback victory in the history of the program. After dropping the first two sets, the Bulldogs found themselves trailing 24-19 in the third. Concordia fought back to 25-25 after three-straight Paige Getz kills and eventually prevailed, 29-27. Getz and company got hot in the fourth, taking it 25-18. Then in a nip-and-tuck fifth set, the Bulldogs persevered by a 16-14 score. It was Concordia’s first five-set win since upsetting then second-ranked Midland in Fremont on Oct. 14, 2015.
  • Getz equaled a career high with 20 kills in the win over Morningside. She has posted double-digit kill numbers in 11 matches this season, including eight in a row. Last week she was honored during a pregame tribute for reaching 1,000 career kills back on Aug. 27. Getz currently ranks sixth on the program’s all-time kills list with 1,147 kills. Among all NAIA players, she ranks 36th for total number of kills (191) this season.
  • The Bulldogs have made their rise up the GPAC ranks with an offensive-minded approach. This 2016 team is similarly built. Among all NAIA teams, Concordia ranks 14th in total aces (118), 19th in kills per game (13.3), 25th in total kills (772), 31st in hitting percentage (.229) and 34th in aces per game (2.0). The attacking numbers are remarkably similar to the 2015 national qualifying squad that hit .226 and averaged 13.5 kills per game.
  • Jocelyn Garcia has won the first two GPAC defensive player of the week awards of 2016 by tracking down attacks all over the back row. The native of Brighton, Colo., ranks No. 15 nationally in total digs (312) and 29th among all NAIA players in digs per game (5.4). Last week she added 43 more digs to her total over the eight sets played. She’s well on her way to recording back-to-back seasons of more than 500 digs.
  • Concordia now has two players who appear on the national leaderboard for aces. Freshman Jenna Eller ranks No. 8 nationally for total aces (35) and 11th in the NAIA in aces per game (.73). Taylor Workman jumped to No. 36 in total aces (25) by going for a career high six aces in the win over Morningside.
  • Alayna Kavanaugh enjoyed a big week directing Concordia’s attack. She piled up 98 assists, including 42 in the straight-sets win over College of Saint Mary. The Bulldogs hit .376 in putting out the Flames. Her play last week helped push Kavanaugh up on the national leaderboard – fifth in total assists (629) and eighth in assists per game (10.8).
  • The Bulldogs now enter another challenging stretch. Ten of their next 11 matches will be against ­­teams either ranked or receiving votes in the most recent national coaches’ poll. This week Concordia draws a road trip to No. 20 Doane (12-4, 2-2 GPAC) at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday and a home date with No. 14 Dordt (9-3, 2-1 GPAC) at 3 p.m. on Saturday. The Bulldogs are 0-4 so far versus top-25 opponents.

Cross Country

  • The first season of Matt Beisel’s head coaching tenure at Concordia got underway this past weekend at the Bronco Stampede hosted by Hastings College. The Bulldogs placed second out of six teams on the men’s side and third amongst the field of seven women’s squads. The men’s 8K race included GPAC rivals Doane, Hastings and Mount Marty in addition to Hesston College and Southeast Community College. The women’s 5K meet featured the same GPAC schools as well as Hesston College, College of Saint Mary and Peru State College. For more on Bulldog cross country, click HERE.
  • The Concordia men traveled 13 competitors to Hastings. Their finishes are listed below. Patrick Wortmann ran a personal best time. Five of the men ran an official 8K race for the first time ever.
    • 4th – Patrick Wortmann (27:11.67)
    • 5th – Kohlton Gabehart (27:13.09)
    • 11th – Thomas Taylor (27:47.12)
    • 13th – Chris Shelton (28:00.88)
    • 14th – Evan Asche (28:03.40)
    • 17th – Cameron Moes (28:48.25)
    • 23rd – Josiah McAllister (29:23.70)
    • 33rd – Robbie Peterson (30:53.21)
    • 41st – Nathan Matters (31:48.77)
    • 42nd – Samuel Ferguson (31:50.10)
    • 47th – Chris Warneke (32:56.31)
    • 53rd – Christian Egger (34:17.84)
    • 56th – Isaac Golke (37:41.63)
  • The Bulldog women had a total of 10 runners at Hastings. Their finishes are listed below. Marti Vlasin, a senior from Seward, is in her first season running cross country after three years of competing exclusively as a track athlete. Abby Protzman ran a personal best. It was the first collegiate race for five of the Bulldog women.
    • 3rd – Emily Sievert (19:11.88)
    • 9th – Taylor Grove (20:00.59)
    • 11th – Marti Vlasin (20:16.92)
    • 13th – Abby Protzman (20:29.63)
    • 16th – Rebekah Hinrichs (20:44.16)
    • 17th – Jacy Johnston (20:47.48)
    • 29th – Erin Lindeman (21:50.88)
    • 36th – Miranda Rathjen (22:39.80)
    • 42nd – Paige Borcherding (22:58.25)
    • 45th – Emily Writebol (23:23.16)
    • 54th – Emily Wetzel (24:09.51)
  • Beisel inherits the head coaching position filled by Kregg Einspahr for the previous 24 years. Beisel graduated from Concordia in 1992. He spent six years as the head track and field coach at Concordia-Chicago, where he was also an assistant cross country coach for four seasons. Most recently, Beisel served as head track and field and cross country coach and science teacher at Valley Lutheran High School in Phoenix, Ariz.
  • In Einspahr’s final season as head coach, Concordia turned in GPAC team finishes of fourth on the men’s side and fifth on the women’s side. Emily Sievert is the lone individual all-conference performer that returns from last season. Sievert was also one of three Bulldogs who qualified individually for the 2015 national championships. Prior to 2014, Concordia went on a run of 20-straight seasons in which it qualified the men’s and/or women’s teams for the national meet. The program’s most recent conference championship occurred when the men won the GPAC title in 2012.
  • Up next for the Bulldogs is Saturday’s Dean White Invite hosted by Doane University. The meet is scheduled to get underway at 10 a.m. Concordia is slated to compete in four meets prior to the GPAC championships on Nov. 5. The 2016 national championships are set for Nov. 19 in Charlotte, N.C.

Golf

  • The women’s golf program returned to action at last week’s two-day Lila Frommelt Fall Classic (Sept. 16-17) hosted by Briar Cliff. Concordia placed 14th out of 16 teams, shooting a two-round total of 385-374–759. Head coach Brett Muller traveled a total of six golfers to the event held in Dakota Dunes, S.D. It was the second outing of the season for the Concordia women. Meanwhile, the men have not competed since the Siouxland Invite, Sept. 8-9. For more information on Bulldog golf: MEN | WOMEN.
  • Through four rounds this fall, the Concordia women have turned in team scores of 361, 414, 385 and 374 for an average of 383.5. The Bulldogs have struggled to replace junior Emma Jacoby, who has been sidelined by injury, as well as Kayla Krueger, who averaged 86.43 over 14 rounds in 2015-16. Last year’s Bulldogs recorded a team average of 352.4 and broke a team single-round record by carding a score of 335 at the College of Saint Mary Fall Invitational.
  • Amy Ahlers remains a solid top-of-the-lineup performer for the Bulldogs. She placed seventh at the Frommelt Classic with her two-day total of 85-80–165. Her nine-over-par 80 on day two marked a season low for the Albion, Neb., native. Out of 11 events in 2015-16, Ahlers failed to land inside the top 10 just once. She also won three tournaments. She’s still looking for her first win of 2016-17.
  • Ahlers was followed by teammate Murphy Sears, a freshman from Crete, Neb. Sears tied for 16th by shooting an 83-86–169. The 83 equals a season low for Sears. She now has a season average of 85.0, second only to Ahlers among Bulldogs. Sears claimed a top-10 finish at the season-opening Mount Marty Invite.
  • The rest of last week’s lineup included Payton DeMers-Sahling (101-99–200), Paighton Barbre (116-109–225) and Madison Pitsch (119-118–237). Lauren Sperry (107-112–219) also competed as an individual.
  • 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.
  • This week it’s the men’s turn to take the course. The Bulldogs will co-host the Blue River Classic with Doane. The two-day event will run Tuesday and Wednesday with day one action taking place at Wilderness Ridge Golf Club in Lincoln before shifting to Concordia’s home course, Highlands Golf Course, for day two. It will be the team’s final outing before the GPAC fall tournament (Oct. 3-4). The next outing for the women is set for Sept. 27-28 at an event hosted by both Midland and College of Saint Mary.

Women’s Soccer

  • The Bulldogs concluded the nonconference portion of their regular season last week, going 1-1. Concordia followed a 2-1 loss to Bellevue University on Sept. 14 with a 5-1 victory over Bethany College (Kan.) on Sept. 17. Fourth-year head coach Greg Henson’s squad has now won each of its first five home games and heads into conference play with an overall record of 5-2-1. For more information on Bulldog women’s soccer, click HERE.
  • Since Henson has been at the helm of the program, the Concordia-Bellevue series has been remarkably close. Each of the last four meetings have been decided by just a single goal. The Bruins, currently receiving votes in the NAIA national poll, have been a consistent winner having been to five-straight national tournaments before that streak was snapped in 2015. Last year’s meeting between Concordia and Bellevue featured two ranked teams at the time. The Bulldogs won, 2-1, in the first-ever matchup between two ranked teams hosted inside Bulldog Stadium.
  • Over the past four seasons, Concordia has cleaned up in nonconference regular-season action, going a combined 21-8-2. Last season the Bulldogs were 6-1 outside of the GPAC following a 6-2 nonconference mark in 2014. Under Henson, Concordia has entered its conference schedule with a winning record each season.
  • Henson may have his most prolific goal scoring team yet. So far the Bulldogs have totaled 22 goals over eight games for an average of 2.75 goals per contest. That’s a significant increase from the 2.14 goals the 2015 team averaged. Even the 2014 GPAC tournament championship team averaged fewer than 2.0 goals per match. This year’s team has a bolstered attack thanks in part to the freshman class, which includes leading goal scorer Sami Birmingham (six goals) and Rachael Bolin, who’s tied for second on the team with four goals.
  • Four different Concordia players are ranked among the top 10 goal scorers in the GPAC. That group includes Birmingham, Bolin, sophomore Maria Deeter and junior Esther Soenksen. Birmingham ranks in a tie for fifth among GPAC players while Bolin, Deeter and Soenksen are all tied for 10th with four goals apiece. Soenksen, who added two assists in the win over Bethany, now has 20 career goals, including her team high 12 in 2015.
  • Bolin, who hails from Arvada, Colo., got loose last week for three goals, including Concordia’s lone score in the loss at Bellevue. She got the Bulldogs humming in the victory at Bethany by recording both of her goals in the game’s opening 27 minutes. Fellow rookie Birmingham also chipped in a goal and an assist.
  • Both teams were on the attack in the Concordia-Bethany matchup. The Swedes peppered the Bulldogs with 10 shots on goal, nine of which were saved by goalkeeper Chrissy Lind. It was a season high for the native of Colorado Springs, who now has 274 saves for her career. The career record for saves by Bulldog goalkeeper is held by Ariel Harris, who made 327 of them during her run from 2008 to 2011.
  • Dating back to last season, Concordia has now won seven-straight home games. The Bulldogs concluded the 2015 regular season with home victories over College of Saint Mary and Mount Marty before winning their first five games played inside Bulldog Stadium in 2016. The most recent home defeat occurred on Oct. 17, 2015 when Concordia suffered a 1-0 loss to Briar Cliff. The Bulldogs are 27-8-1 at home since the start of 2013.
  • Concordia will have a midweek bye before attempting to extend its home win streak on Saturday when it hosts Northwestern (3-4, 0-0 GPAC). Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. from Bulldog Stadium. The two teams played to a scoreless draw in Orange City, Iowa, last season.

Men’s Soccer

  • The Bulldogs ended a stretch of eight-straight days without a game on Monday when they met up with a familiar old GPAC rival. Despite more than doubling up Nebraska Wesleyan in the shot count, Concordia settled for a 2-2 draw after 110 minutes of action. It was the second time this season that ninth-year head coach Jason Weides’ squad has played in a double overtime contest. The Bulldogs are now 3-1-2 overall heading into the start of conference action. For more information on Concordia men’s soccer, click HERE.
  • The two goals allowed to the Prairie Wolves were more than the Bulldogs had allowed all season over their first five outings. Concordia had not surrendered a goal since Sept. 3 entering this week. It also had gone more than 388 minutes without seeing its opponent find the back of the net – that is until Nebraska Wesleyan’s Chris Elbracht scored in the 23rd minute. Even with Monday’s result, the Bulldogs rank in a tie for 13th among all NAIA programs in terms of fewest goals allowed per game (0.5).
  • Offensively, Micah Lehenbauer and Tyler Jensen proved deadly on the attack on Monday. Lehenbauer recorded both goals, teaming up with Jensen (two assists) in the 49th and 53rd minutes. A native of Kathleen, Ga., Lehenbauer tied a team high with seven goals during his sophomore season in 2015. Lehenbauer now has three career multi-goal games to his credit.
  • That effort was enough to vault Lehenbauer into the goal-scoring lead for a Concordia team that has posted nine goals from six different players on the year. Lehenbauer and Carlos Ferrer (two goals) are the only two Bulldogs with more than one. Four players have exactly one goal: Marcelo Hernandez, Jensen, Andrew Mussell and Lewis Rathbone.
  • The 21 shots fired by Concordia on Monday marked a season high. It has averaged 15.2 shots per game – fourth most in the GPAC. The Bulldogs have created considerably more chances than their opponents, who have managed just a total of 49 shots (19 on goal) over the season’s first six games.
  • Dating back to 2014, Concordia has lost just one of its last 11 games that have gone to overtime. In those instances, the Bulldogs own a combined record of 1-1-9. Included in those nine draws was a shootout tournament advancement over Midland in last year’s GPAC semifinals in Fremont. The only loss also occurred in a GPAC semifinal – a 2-1 heartbreaker at No. 11 Hastings in 2014.
  • Concordia has yet to lose in a road/neutral game in 2016 (2-0-2). Over their last 10 road/neutral contests, the Bulldogs have produced a combined record of 5-1-4. The only defeat was a 3-0 decision at No. 2 Oklahoma Wesleyan University in the opening round of the 2015 national tournament. The 10-game sample includes wins over No. 19 Hastings, a shootout advancement over Midland (receiving votes), a draw with No. 24 Lyon College (Ark.) and a win over Georgia Gwinnett College (receiving votes).
  • A four-day stretch without a game will conclude on Saturday when the Bulldogs return home for the first time since a 1-0 defeat versus Graceland University (Iowa) on Sept. 3. Saturday’s 3:30 p.m. game will pit Concordia against Northwestern (2-6, 0-0 GPAC) in the conference opener for both teams. The Red Raiders finished third in the 2015 GPAC regular-season standings.