Bulldog Athletic Association Member (BAAM) Athletes of the Week
Female: Erica Heinzerling, Volleyball
A native of Ankeny, Iowa, Heinzerling responded to increased playing time last week and produced a combined 37 kills while hitting .196 over four matches. A fourth-year member of the program, Heinzerling notched a career high 13 kills in last week’s match at No. 23 College of Saint Mary.
Male: Drew D’Ercole / Ivan Yabut, Golf
D’Ercole and Yabut share this award after shooting identical scores of 76-71–147 at the Mount Marty Invite (Aug. 30-31). That two-round score put D’Ercole and Yabut and a tie for third on the individual leaderboard. They helped the Bulldogs place second out of eight teams. D’Ercole hails from Papillion, Neb., while Yabut is from Omaha, Neb.
Previous BAAM Athletes of the Week
Aug. 31 – Martin Herrera (soccer) / Camryn Opfer (volleyball)
News and notes:
BAAM luncheons are held every Tuesday at 12 p.m. CT inside the Dog House Grill, located in the Janzow Campus Center. The luncheons feature reports from head coaches who are in season at the time.
Game/event days on campus: Concordia Athletics continues to welcome fans to its venues for sporting events. Currently, there are no attendance limits. However, face coverings are required at Concordia indoor sporting events, effective Sept. 1. The policy will be continually evaluated. Before visiting road venues involving Bulldog teams, be sure to check the spectator policies on those particular campuses. Other locations may also require the use of face coverings. Once again, fans attending varsity sporting events at Concordia are able to purchase advance tickets online via HomeTown Ticketing. Tickets will also be sold on site on the day of events. Should any policies or protocols for fans change, updated information will be available on the athletics fan information page HERE.
Meet the new graduate assistant coaches: Ten Concordia graduate assistant coaches are in their first seasons with their respective programs. In recent years, many Bulldog GA’s have gone on to secure full-time positions within the coaching profession after getting hands-on experience at Concordia. Learn about the new graduate assistants by clicking HERE.
Shooting Sports set to officially begin 2021-22 season on Sept. 11-12: Head Coach Scott Moniot is prepping for his fourth season leading the Concordia Shooting Sports program. The weekend of Aug. 27-28, Moniot took a group of freshmen to the Fort Hays State Freshman Fall Intercollegiate Shoot. The event serves as a means to introduce freshmen to the collegiate shooting sports scene. Officially, the season will get started Sept. 11-12 at the Fort Hays State Fall Intercollegiate Shoot. For more information on the program, click HERE.
While finishing the 2020-21 season at the ACUI Collegiate Clay Target National Championships (March 25-27), the Bulldogs broke program records in the disciplines of skeet, trap and super sporting. Concordia placed seventh out of 12 teams in a loaded Division 2 grouping at the national championships. From an individual perspective, the highlights included graduate student Erin Lokke (skeet) and freshman Wayne Moore (trap) shooting perfect 100/100 scores. Lokke won the women’s skeet national title while Moore tied for first in trap with five others (lost the tiebreaker for first). Moniot’s program competed in eight separate competitions throughout the 2020-21 season. Some highlights from the fall included a conference championship at the Prairie Circuit Classic, team titles at the Midland Ice Out and the Hastings Invite and a second-place claim at the fifth annual Concordia Bulldog Sporting Invitational. Lokke garnered the individual crown at the conference championships.
Tennis ready to begin fall portion of schedule: Under the direction of first-year Head Coach Cam Long, the Concordia Tennis teams will make their 2021-22 debut this Friday and Saturday at the Bethany College Tournament. Unlike many collegiate tennis events, there will not be team scoring. Rather, this will be more of an individualized tournament. Action is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. CT both days from Lindsborg, Kan. The bulk of the tennis season will take place during the spring semester. Check out the team schedule HERE.
Bulldog Coaches Show airs every Thursday at 5:30 p.m. CT: The Bulldog Coaches Show is underway in its seventh 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 2021-22 season, Bulldog football, men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball contests will be aired live on Max Country. Parker Cyza 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 seventh season calling Concordia volleyball.
Concordia Sports Network: Live webcasts for most home varsity contests can be accessed by visiting https://www.cune.edu/athletics/watch-bulldogs at game time. Beginning in 2019-20, Concordia Athletics partnered with PrestoSports for live video and statistical streaming. For more details on this change, click HERE. Check team schedules/results pages for webcast dates. Scrimmages, exhibitions and junior varsity events are not broadcasted.
Cross Country
· Head Coach Matt Beisel could not have asked for a much better start to the 2021 season. At the Augustana Twilight Meet held Sept. 3 at Yankton Trail Park in Sioux Falls, S.D., the Bulldogs turned in place finishes of eighth (out of 27 teams) on the women’s side and 12th (out of 31 teams) on the men’s side. Both Concordia squads defeated nationally ranked GPAC opponents as part of the thrilling opening meet that took place after dark. There were 329 runners in the women’s 5k race and 344 competitors in the men’s four-mile race. For more information on Concordia Cross Country, click HERE.
· Just a couple of years removed from winning the GPAC title, the Bulldog women are showing they have the makings of a championship contender in 2021. The seven place finishers in front of Concordia were each affiliated with either NCAA Division I or II. With a team total of 256, the Bulldogs just barely held off reigning GPAC champion Dordt (264). Concordia defeated six other conference opponents: Hastings (10th), Morningside (13th), Doane (14th), Northwestern (16th), Midland (21st) and Mount Marty (25th). The Defenders entered the meet ranked sixth in the NAIA.
· This was also a confidence booster for the men’s team, which placed behind only Dordt (third) and Northwestern (10th) among GPAC foes. There was a gap of 20 points that separated Concordia (366) from the Red Raiders (346). The Bulldogs outran the following GPAC rivals: Doane (16th), Morningside (17th), Midland (20th), Mount Marty (23rd), Hastings (25th), Dakota Wesleyan (28th) and Briar Cliff (30th). Doane carried a national ranking of 21st into the meet. Impressively, GPAC frontrunner Dordt placed third and beat out the University of Nebraska.
· Individually, Grace Reiman and Camden Sesna emerged as the top Dawgs for their respective sides. Reiman appears ready to make a significant jump in her second season of collegiate running. At the GPAC Championships last season, Reiman finished the 5k race in 23:12.86. Last week, she completed the 5k at Yankton Trail Park in 19:26.89 (44th place). She was a part of an All-American distance medley relay team during indoor track. Meanwhile, Sesna starred as the top men’s runner nearly all of last season. A second place GPAC finisher in the steeplechase this past outdoor track season, Sesna placed 35th (20:44.53) at the Augustana Twilight.
· Sesna was followed in the men’s lineup by Calvin Rohde, who crossed the finish line in 21:19.90. The next five Bulldogs in line were all freshmen: Charlie Hayden (21:33.45; 83rd), Sam Plante (21:56.52; 105th), Thomas Gorline (22:29.88; 149th), Nathan Pennekamp (22:45.86; 166th) and Jack Ellis (23:01.71; 192nd). Past All-GPAC runner Wyatt Lehr placed eighth among Bulldogs (197th overall) in a time of 23:05.65. The ninth and 10th spots in Concordia’s lineup were held down by Ethan Pankow (23:06.68; 199th) and Owen Dawson (23:08.15; 204th).
· Also a track and field relay All-American, Rylee Haecker came in next in line behind Reiman by clocking a time of 19:46.71. In addition, the freshmen made an immediate impact with Kaia Richmond (19:52.43; 70th) and Rhaya Kaschinske (20:08.37; 89th) landing inside the team’s top five runners. Meanwhile, Amie Martin placed 72nd overall (19:52.69) while running a good portion of the race with just one shoe on. Freshmen Courtney Wright (20:43.98; 130th) and Katelyn Nix (20:47.34; 132nd) represented the team’s sixth and seventh competitors. Rounding out the top 10 were Keri Bauer (20:56.13; 141st), Jaiden Tweton (21:00.38; 146th) and Grace Oberg (21:02.24; 148th).
· The season will pick back up on Friday, Sept. 17 when the Bulldogs will compete at the Morningside Invite. The race is slated to begin at 5:30 p.m. CT from Adams Nature Preserve in North Sioux City, S.D. That same location will serve as the site of the Briar Cliff Invite on Oct. 1. Concordia will run in four meets prior to the GPAC Championships on Nov. 6.
Football
· It was tough sledding in the season opener as the Bulldogs met up with 10-time defending GPAC champion Morningside on Sept. 4. Ranked as the NAIA’s top offense in both yardage and scoring last season, the Mustangs picked up where they left off and cruised to a 63-7 victory. Morningside piled up 652 total yards, including 451 passing by star quarterback Joe Dolincheck (who also fired five touchdown passes). Impressively, the Mustangs have won 48 regular season games in a row. Concordia slipped to 2-3 in season openers under fifth-year Head Coach Patrick Daberkow. For more information on Concordia Football, click HERE.
· The Bulldogs got a lesson on what it takes to compete at a national championship type of level. Concordia narrowly avoided the shutout when backup quarterback DJ McGarvie led a seven-play, 70-yard touchdown drive in the final few minutes of the game. McGarvie capped the drive by finding Cayden Beran for an 11-yard touchdown strike in the left corner of the end zone. That drive accounted for a good chunk of the team’s 254 total yards for the game. The Bulldogs gained 181 yards passing and 73 rushing.
· Beran caught three passes for 80 yards and a touchdown to lead the receiver group at Morningside. The native of Hutto, Texas, entered the season having recorded 85 receptions for 1,061 yards and four touchdowns in his collegiate career as a Bulldog. Meanwhile, fellow receiver Korrell Koehlmoos is nearing 100 career catches. He moved his total to 95 by snagging four catches for 31 yards last week. His career totals stand at 95 receptions for 1,430 yards and eight touchdowns. Only three receivers in program history have hit the 2,000-yard mark.
· As Concordia fans know by now, All-American linebacker Lane Napier is playing his fifth season of collegiate football (due to a COVID-19 waiver). Not surprisingly, Napier led the Bulldogs with 12 tackles last week. That bumped his career total to 413, a figure that ranks No. 1 in the history of the GPAC, which began in 2000. Throughout his career, Napier has also totaled 34 tackles for loss, 10.5 sacks, seven pass breakups and one interception.
· At quarterback, Wyatt Ehlers (sophomore eligibility-wise) made the second start of his career. He completed 13-of-24 passes for 148 yards and committed one turnover (lost fumble). The ferocious defensive front of Morningside gave Ehlers and the offense fits. He was sacked seven times while facing consistent pressure. Entering this season, Ehlers had appeared in 11 games over the previous two years. He has thrown for four touchdown passes in his career. Ehlers took over the starting role from Blake Culbert, who graduated.
· The sacks negated a large portion of the rushing yards that were gained by the likes of Jonah Weyand and Devin Zeigler. Weyand rushed 15 times for 58 tough yards as he opened his second season as the starting running back. Off the bench, Zeigler ran four times for 36 yards. The average of 4.9 yards per carry between Weyand and Zeigler marked a significant improvement from previous rushing efforts against Morningside. Weyand is coming off a first team All-GPAC season that saw him run 146 times for 625 yards (4.3 average) and nine touchdowns.
· The Bulldogs will attempt to quickly put behind last week’s outing as they get ready for their home opener. Briar Cliff (0-2, 0-1 GPAC) will be in town on Saturday for a 1 p.m. CT kickoff from Bulldog Stadium. The Chargers fell at home, 17-3, at the hands of Doane last week. Concordia will try to make it three wins in a row over Briar Cliff having toppled the Chargers 16-14 in 2019 and 24-9 in 2020. Briar Cliff has a new head coach in Shane LaDage, previously the Associate Head Coach at Minot State University (N.D.).
Golf
· Head Coach Brett Muller spent nearly the entire week in Yankton, S.D., as both the men’s and women’s teams opened the 2021-22 seasons at the Mount Marty Invite. The men got the week started by placing second out of eight teams with a two-day score of 304-299–603 while navigating Hillcrest Country Club and Fox Run Golf Course in Yankton (Aug. 30-31). The women played the same two courses Sept. 2-3 and carded a two-round total of 342-364–706, placing seventh out of 14 teams. For more information on Concordia Golf: Men | Women.
· The men had a shot at winning the team title at the Mount Marty. They finished six strokes behind champion Dakota Wesleyan, which shot a sterling 276 in round two. The Bulldogs were in the running thanks to the help of three top 10 individual place finishers: Drew D’Ercole (76-71–147; T-3rd), Ivan Yabut (76-71–147; T-3rd) and Justin Webert (73-79–152; 8th). D’Ercole is expected to be the team’s No. 1 golfer after his breakthrough 2020-21 campaign. A major highlight of last season, D’Ercole won the Doane Spring Invite. Through 29 career rounds, D’Ercole owns an 18-hole average of 77.8. Yabut sports a career average of 79.3.
· With a large and talented roster, there’s a lot of competition for spots within the top five of the men’s lineup. D’Ercole, Yabut and Webert were joined on the ‘A’ team by Jake Hagerbaumer (79-78–157; T-16th) and Gavin McWhorter (81-79–160; T-22nd). The rest of the Concordia tournament roster featured Nathan Auffet (75-80–155; T-13th), Jack Williams (81-77–158; T-19th), Landon Walkenhorst (82-85–167; T-28th), Jacob Woodmancy (84-83–167; T-28th) and Josh D’Ercole (87-81–168; 31st).
· Not surprisingly, Kendra Placke led the way for the women’s team, which is coming off back-to-back GPAC third-place finishes. The Seward High School product Placke is expected to take the lead throughout the 2021-22 campaign. She entered the second round of the Mount Marty Invite with a shot at a tournament championship (four strokes behind the leader). Placke wound up 14 strokes out of first place with her two-round score of 77-85–162 (tied for seventh). The performance was right in line with her career scoring average of 81.0.
· After shooting a career low round of 87 on day one in Yankton, Mya Nurse landed at 33rd place out of 71 golfers on the individual leaderboard. She fired a two-day total of 87-93–180. Another five Bulldogs competed at the Mount Mart Invite: Logan Eschliman (87-96–183; T-37th), Lauren Havlat (91-92–183; T-37th), Emily Jensen (91-94–185; T-42nd), Ashley Gerczynski (98-100–198; T-52nd) and Sarah Wilson (99-105–204; T-60th).
· Up next for the men’s team is the Blue River Classic this Wednesday and Thursday. Concordia co-hosts the event along with Doane. Day one action will get started at 10 a.m. CT from Highlands Golf Course in Lincoln before shifting to Woodland Hills Golf Course in Eagle, Neb., where play will begin at 9 a.m. on Thursday. The men will also be at the Siouxland Invite next Monday-Tuesday (Sept. 13-14). Meanwhile, the women are off until the Lila Frommelt Invite set for Sept. 17-18 in Dakota Dunes, S.D.
Men’s Soccer
· A week on the road resulted in a 2-0 defeat at Grand View University (Iowa) on Sept. 1 and a 1-1 double overtime draw at Kansas Wesleyan University on Sept. 4. Based on the way the two games were played, Head Coach Jason Weides actually came away more pleased with his performance in the loss at Grand View. The previous week, Concordia emerged with wins over York College and Tabor College (Kan.). The Bulldogs stand at 2-1-1 overall with two games left on the nonconference slate. For more information on Concordia Men’s Soccer, click HERE.
· Weides felt like the Vikings were the aggressor in the opening 15 minutes in the matchup that took place in Des Moines, Iowa. A nifty save by Bulldog starting goalkeeper Callum Goldsmith kept Grand View off the board during that timeframe. Eventually, the Vikings broke through with a goal from Alessandro Venditti in the 23rd minute. Breathing room came in the 67th minute thanks to Gavin Nevshernal’s goal. By game’s end, Grand View owned advantages of 19-14 in shots and 5-2 in corner kicks.
· Weides has a good problem in that he has two very capable goalkeepers in Goldsmith and Federico Simonetti. The latter was named a Second Team All-GPAC honoree last season as a freshman. So far this season, Concordia has deployed three different keepers: Goldsmith (261 minutes), Simonetti (110 minutes) and Efren Flores Fierro (nine minutes). A native of Sevenoaks, England, Goldsmith entered this season having made 13 career starts. Simonetti started 16 of the 18 games last season and recorded a goals against average of 1.07 and a save percentage of .754.
· The Bulldogs aspire to start generating more chances on the attacking end. That facet of their game was a frustration in the Saturday night contest at Kansas Wesleyan. Despite those issues, Concordia owned a 1-0 lead for a good portion of the second half thanks to Max Bisinger’s goal in the 67th minute. The Coyotes found the equalizer in the 87th minute via a goal from Jesus Genaro. In 110 minutes of action, Concordia managed only 12 total shots. In the loss at Grand View, the Bulldogs put eight shots on frame out of their 14 shots.
· Through four games, Concordia has outscored its opponents by a combined total of 9-5. Six different Bulldogs have found the back of the net at least once – Bisinger (two), Garrett Perry (two), Isaiah Shaddick (two), Martin Herrera (one), Carlos Orquiz (one) and Ryan Wokutch (one). Just like last season, Concordia will likely feature a balanced attack. Shaddick led Concordia last season with six goals and is a candidate for a breakout season. Shaddick (four shots, two on goal) and Yessine Bessaïes (four shots, three on goal) were most active in the game at Grand View.
· The Bulldogs will focus their attention on just one game this week. They will host Benedictine College (Kan.) (1-2) at 8 p.m. CT on Wednesday. Concordia will attempt to avenge the 2-0 defeat it endured at Benedictine this past spring. The Ravens own a win over Bethel College (Kan.) while having lost to John Brown University (Ark.) and No. 8 Bellevue University.
Volleyball
· The first week of September greeted the Bulldogs with four matches against nationally ranked opponents. Concordia competed closely in all of them wound up 2-2 with wins over No. 19 Oklahoma City University (straight sets) and No. 17 Montana Tech (four sets). The losses came at the hands of No. 23 College of Saint Mary (five sets) and No. 10 University of Providence (Mont.) (straight sets). Five of the first seven matches this season have featured the Bulldogs versus top 25 foes. Head Coach Ben Boldt’s squad now stands at 4-3 overall and at 1-1 in conference play. For more information on Concordia Volleyball, click HERE.
· The Bulldogs couldn’t close the deal at College of Saint Mary on Sept. 1. Concordia had opportunities to put away match point in the fourth set before falling in five, 20-25, 22-25, 25-18, 26-24, 15-10, in Omaha. In the fifth set, CSM put away nine kills while Concordia committed six attack errors. The Flames built a 13-4 lead in the set before Gabi Nordaker’s kill ended a 4-0 run. Kamryn Williams later delivered the match-point kill for the home team. The Flames owned an advantage in hitting percentage, .249 to .213, for the night. Four Bulldogs reached double figures in kills: Camryn Opfer (16), Arleigh Costello (14), Erica Heinzerling (13) and Nordaker (12).
· The opening sequence versus Oklahoma City set the tone for the day on Sept. 3. Opfer got the afternoon started in style by pounding six kills on nine swings in the first set that Concordia won, 25-13, while hitting a sizzling .500. The Stars (2-2) buckled down and made things more interesting in the second and third sets, but the Bulldogs walked away a winner, 25-13, 25-21, 25-22. Opfer finished the match with 12 kills and three blocks. Concordia outhit Oklahoma City, .281 to .239.
· Though a lengthy team, Montana Tech had no answer for the Bulldog middles in the night cap this past Friday. Nordaker went off for 15 kills on 25 attempts with just one error (.560 percentage). In addition, Sara Huss collected nine kills and hit .500. From the outside, Opfer added 12 kills and 11 digs (one of four Concordia players with at least 10 digs). Erica Heinzerling chipped in with eight kills. On the attack, Opfer paced Concordia with 24 kills on Sept. 3 while Nordaker was right behind her with 23.
· Boldt tweaked the lineup over the weekend to make use of both Tara Callahan and Bree Burtwistle at setter. “We played ‘Burty’ in the front row and Tara in the back row,” Boldt explained. “Tara and Arleigh have a really good connection that allows that to happen and Burtwistle and Gabi have a really good connection. It just felt natural for those four to connect. This lineup allowed that to happen. We’re continuing to play with stuff. I thought this was a gritty, tough lineup. I’m proud of them for how they responded.” Over the three weekend matches at the Bellevue Labor Day Classic, Callahan accumulated 57 assists and Burtwistle totaled 63 assists.
· Statistical leaders over last week’s four outings included Opfer (47 kills), Nordaker (.322 hitting percentage), Callahan (114 assists), Costello (nine blocks) and Knust (47 digs and six aces). In addition, Heinzerling saw increased playing time on the outside and delivered 37 kills while hitting .196. On the national leaderboard, Concordia ranks 17th in hitting percentage (.251) and 19th in kills per set (13.46). The balanced Bulldog attacking lineup features five players with more than 40 kills this season: Opfer (79), Nordaker (68), Costello (60), Heinzerling (42) and Huss (42). Nordaker is hitting .371 on the season.
· Another difficult week greets the Bulldogs as they ready to host No. 3 Midland (13-0, 2-0 GPAC) at 7:30 p.m. CT on Wednesday. Concordia will then be on the road for neutral site matches at the Baker Invitational in Baldwin City, Kan., on Friday and Saturday. As part of the event, the Bulldogs will play Columbia College (Mo.) (7-4) at 7 p.m. on Friday, No. 18 Ottawa University (Kan.) (1-3) at 1 p.m. on Saturday and Missouri Valley College (4-6) at 7 p.m. on Saturday.
Women’s Soccer
· Just one outing made up last week’s schedule as the Bulldogs ventured to Des Moines, Iowa, for what amounted to a 3-0 loss at Grand View University (Iowa) on Aug. 31. Concordia had hoped to avenge last season’s 2-1 double overtime defeat that came at the hands of the Vikings, a member of the Heart of America Athletic Conference. Head Coach Thomas Goines’ squad sits at 1-1 with the win coming over Tabor College (Kan.) on Aug. 28. For more information on Concordia Women’s Soccer, click HERE.
· Grand View is actually responsible for the two most recent losses for the Bulldogs. After the double OT loss to the Vikings on March 27, Concordia rebounded by winning the GPAC tournament title. The Bulldogs have an active 10-game unbeaten streak against conference opponents (8-0-2 during that stretch), but are 1-5 over their past six nonconference matchups. Concordia last lost to a GPAC foe on Oct. 7 when it dropped a 3-0 decision at Morningside.
· For the second game in a row, Kalie “Rocket” Ward (Cheyenne, Wyo.) got the start in goal for Concordia. This was a much stiffer challenge than what was faced three days earlier versus Tabor. A highlight moment for Ward in the Grand View game came shortly after the first goal when she made a diving save to her left. It was one of Ward’s five saves in last week’s contest. In the season opener, Ward played the first 45 minutes before giving way to Angela Banks, a freshman from Downey, Calif.
· The Bulldogs made their run last season while hanging their hat on hard-nosed defensive play, but they will have to find ways to get more chances on the attack. Grand View limited Concordia to just two total shots (one on goal) in the matchup in Des Moines. Grace Soenksen and Senna McMullen both fired one shot. In the season opener, the Bulldogs got a goal apiece from Hannah Haas and Mikeila Martinez. The latter led the Bulldogs with seven goals last fall.
· The starting lineups used in the first two games have been similar (with just one minor change from game No. 1 to game No. 2). Goines has gone with the veterans, at least in the starting 11. That group includes fifth-year member of the program Michaela Twito, who continues to move closer the school record for career games played. That standard belongs to Jeannelle Condame, who played in 84 games. Twito is now up to 81 after starting the first two contests of this season. Each of the starters so far has played college soccer at least two years.
For the first time this season, Concordia will play twice in one week. The Bulldogs will host No. 25 Benedictine College (Kan.) at 5:30 p.m. CT on Wednesday. Then on Saturday, Concordia will be at Southwestern College (Kan.) for a 2 p.m. kickoff. The Bulldogs lost to both programs back in the spring, just as they had to Grand View. Following this week’s action, Concordia will have just one nonconference regular season game left – at Bellevue University on Sept. 15.