Bulldogs split in opening night of Rumpke Invite, Coach Miller picks up 100th career win

Concordia University went 1-1 in the opening day of the Georgetown College Rumpke Invite on Friday evening in Georgetown, Ky.  The Bulldogs defeated Montreat University (NC) and lost to the hosts from Georgetown College to move to 4-8 on the year.  The win over Montreat University was the 100th career win for head coach Rachel Miller. 

Coach Miller’s 100th win proved to be extra special, as the Bulldogs battled for an exciting 3-2 win over Montreat.  Scores of the match were 25-20, 34-32, 18-25, 9-25 and 15-13.  As a team, Concordia totaled 15 and 20 kills, respectively, in the opening two sets of the match.  The Bulldogs struggled in the next two sets but came through with nine kills on 17 total attempts in the fifth and final set. 

Several players had big nights for the Bulldogs in the win.  Amanda Abbott pounded a season and career-high 16 kills to lead the way offensively.  Amanda Kisker (Lincoln, Neb.) added a big double-double with 12 kills and a career-high 24 digs, while Kaylie Mellema (Axtell, Neb.) totaled nine kills and seven digs on the night.  Angela Bruhn (Creston, Neb.) chipped in with a career-high 20 digs, while Alexa Hopping (Sutherland, Neb.) dished out 28 set assists to go along with 10 digs.  Kayla James (Gibbon, Neb.) also reached double figures with 19 assists in the Concordia win. 

The hosts from Georgetown College cruised to a 3-0 win over the Bulldogs in the final match of the evening.  Scores were 25-11, 25-15 and 25-15.  Georgetown finished with a .360 attack percentage and hit .414 and .424, respectively, in the opening two sets of the match.  Rachel Eubanks pounded a match-high 16 kills to lead the way, while Liz Gooding handed out 31 set assists for the hosts in the win. 

Concordia hit just .032 in the match and was led by Abbott’s eight kills.  Kisker added six kills and a match-high 10 digs, while James handed out 11 set assists. 

The Bulldogs will conclude play in the Rumpke Invite with two more matches on Saturday.  Concordia faces Union College (Ky.) at 12:30 with a match against Grace College (Ind.) to follow at 3:00.