FREMONT, Neb. – There were some scary moments on Halloween (Oct. 31) for the fourth-ranked Concordia University Volleyball team, but the treat at the end of the night tasted sweeter than a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. A Sara Huss kill sealed it in four sets as the Bulldogs fought off No. 18 Midland, 25-17, 16-25, 25-23, 27-25, inside the Wikert Events Center in Fremont, Neb. With the victory came the spoils of a share of the 2023 GPAC regular season title. In the aftermath of the match, there were hugs all-around amongst teammates and coaches.
Head Coach Ben Boldt’s squad has “leveled up” this fall while winning the program’s first GPAC championship since 2000. Concordia has closed the regular season at 21-2 overall (14-2 GPAC) while sharing the league title with Northwestern and Jamestown.
“Level up – that’s been our theme all year long,” Boldt said. “Our team has been so connected all the way through. We just never wavered in each other. This is something that we’ve wanted. You’re not going to base success solely on whether you hit your goals or not, but do you connect with each other? Do you believe in each other? Do you give every ounce of your effort? That’s what our core values are all about, and I thought we stuck to them tonight.”
This outing certainly tested the resolve of the Bulldogs, who faced deficits of 13-6 in the third set and 20-15 in the fourth set. Incredibly, Concordia won both of those sets in charging back against a red-hot Warrior squad that entered the night carrying a five-match winning streak. Boldt burned through timeouts early in the second through fourth sets as the Bulldogs searched for the answers they eventually found. It was back-to-back kills by Ashley Keck that calmed the waters in the third and then a series of monster plays in the middle by Gabi Nordaker in the fourth that shifted the momentum once again.
In the fourth set, Midland edged in front, 25-24, before the cool and collected Camryn Opfer slammed a kill. The Fairbury, Neb., native Huss took it from there, emerging with a block and then a kill for the match’s deciding tallies. It wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t easy. Then again, winning a GPAC title isn’t supposed to come without a dose of adversity. Concordia gritted it out despite being held to a .214 hitting percentage.
This was especially emotional for the seniors and for fifth-year players like Opfer and Bree Burtwistle. Said Opfer, “I just love playing with this team. I think the fight and the will to win on this team is unmatched. I’m just so proud for the coaches especially because I’ve been with them for five years now and they’ve wanted this so bad. Obviously so have we, so I’m just happy to do it for my teammates and my coaches.”
There were some early struggles for Opfer, but she elevated her play when the Bulldogs really needed it. She finished with 13 kills and six digs while surpassing 1,500 career kills. The always reliable Keck paced the team with 15 kills and had the hot hand early when Concordia started strong in the opening set. Keck added 13 digs to her stat line. Meanwhile, Rodaway produced 13 kills (.423), Burtwistle piled up 55 assists and 18 digs and Becca Gebhardt collected 11 digs (including a highlight-reel worthy dig in the third set). A gold star also goes to Huss (four kills and a block) for her efforts off the bench.
It all added up to a championship moment, one Ben and Angie Boldt had been building towards since the early days of preaching “champs before champs.” Behaving like champions eventually led to becoming champions.
Said Ben Boldt, “We had an incredible moment out there on the court. We started this journey back in January of this year. You set a goal and you work for it. To achieve that goal is incredibly rewarding for a team. It’s not in the achievement really – it’s in the journey for it. This team has been mission minded. I knew they were going to stick together. I’m so happy they achieved this. That’s why we coach.”
Concordia earned the season sweep of Midland (14-10, 10-6 GPAC), which wound up as the No. 4 seed for the upcoming conference tournament. The Warriors got a big performance on Tuesday from Jacki Appel, who floored 22 kills on 37 swings. Reigning NAIA Defender of the Week Abbey Ringler notched eight blocks. Midland finished with a .253 hitting percentage and had a 16-7 blocking advantage.
Based on tiebreakers, the Bulldogs will be the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament and will host a GPAC quarterfinal match at 7:30 p.m. CT on Saturday. The opponent will be seventh-seeded Dakota Wesleyan (19-14, 8-8 GPAC). Concordia defeated the Tigers in straight sets in Seward during the regular season. DWU reached the 2022 national quarterfinals behind star middle Ady Dwight.
A Halloween to remember. pic.twitter.com/dJa8bG5uHa
— Concordia Bulldogs (@cunebulldogs) November 1, 2023