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VIDEO: Postgame locker room celebration
SIOUX CITY, Iowa – A weeklong grind has concluded in historic fashion for Concordia University, Nebraska Volleyball. The 2025 Bulldogs have made their mark as the program’s first ever team to reach the semifinals of the NAIA National Championship. Heartache in the fourth set failed to deter third-ranked Concordia, which outlasted No. 6 University of Providence (Mont.) in a near three-hour match, 25-20, 25-22, 15-25, 25-27, 15-12, late Saturday (Dec. 7) inside the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa.
Head Coach Ben Boldt and his staff had guided the Bulldogs to the quarterfinals on three previous occasions. This time, Concordia (28-3) will let it rip on national semifinal Monday.
“It means a lot. We talked about that in the locker room,” Boldt said. “It’s built on the people who have come before us. I’m really proud right now. It’s a culmination of the work that we’ve put in and just keeping at it. We don’t talk about results. We talk about our process. Where we’re at now is a result of us putting in work.”
This one was extra special for seniors like Ashley Keck. Said Keck in her immediate reaction, “It’s amazing. We fought all season. We haven’t lost a fifth set. We knew going into the fifth set that this was our chance. This is who we are. We get ourselves into these tough moments, but we finish them.”
It took 14 sets over their first three matches at the final set for the Bulldogs to sew up their spot in the semifinals. As a credit to Saturday’s opponent, the Argonauts of Great Falls, Mont., they fought off three Concordia match-point opportunities in the fourth set. A successful challenge by Providence resulted in a kill for Cabry Taylor that capped the fourth set.
In the fifth set, the Bulldogs took an 8-7 lead on a kill by Keck and never relinquished the advantage. On the game’s final sequence, Kya Scott and Molli Martin combined on a block that the Argonauts eventually fumbled to the floor. Concordia held Providence to .081 in the fifth set and racked up 10 kills. After coming up short in the quarterfinals in 2020, 2021 and 2024, the Bulldogs made this their time.
Said Boldt, “You can tell that we’ve done this enough. You can tell that we have toughness. We’re mentally tough. We don’t get rattled. We need to execute. We’re executing in the tough moments. I love our motto this year because I think we’re going for it in the big moments. In that fourth set, we had three chances at putting the match away. Different from last year, we were swinging on those. We kept at it and we kept at it, and we put it away in the fifth.”
Almost certain to repeat as an NAIA National Championship All-Tournament selection, Keck helped will her side to victory with 24 kills and 29 digs on Saturday. Fellow classmates Ella Waters (18) and Scott (14) joined Keck in double figures in the kill category. In the back row, Emma Brueggemann, Clara Evert, Shandy Faalii and Lily Psencik showed grit in each notching double-digit digs. The team’s 116 digs helped push the Bulldogs over the edge. Ava Greene led the way with four blocks.
Not everything about it was pretty, and that’s okay this time of year. Concordia got outhit by Providence, .198 to .172, but it emerged with more kills, 74-64, in a survive-and-advance effort. Savannah Shelburne (33 assists) and Psencik (32 assists) combined for 65 assists.
On the other side of the net, Bella Green paced the Argonauts with 16 kills, and three of her teammates posted more than 20 digs, led by 23 from Bella Thompson. A well-balanced team, Providence (33-3) entered the match ranking top 15 nationally in blocks per set, kills per set, digs per set and hitting percentage.
With her 24 kills on Saturday, Keck moved past former teammate Gabi Nordaker for No. 4 on the program’s all-time kills list. Keck has accumulated 1,447 kills in her career. Win or lose on Saturday, Keck would have been overjoyed simply to have this opportunity to compete with her teammates. The victory and postgame celebration, including a locker room soaking of Ben Boldt, comes as a bonus.
Said Keck of the meaning for the seniors, “We’ve done this with each other the past four years. We give it our all every single game. What’s most important is this team has pure joy. Win or lose, we’re going to have that joy. No one’s going to take that away from us.”
A third clash this season with archrival Northwestern (32-3) awaits Concordia in Monday’s national semifinal round. Each of the top four seeds have reached the semifinals. On the other side of the bracket, No. 1 Eastern Oregon University will meet No. 4 Indiana Wesleyan University. The semifinal matches are set for 5 and 8 p.m. CT on Monday with the Bulldogs slated for the late-night contest. The winners will play in the NAIA National Championship Match at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.